Immortality
by Luckie D
Summary: A crossover with Cold Case and Law and Order: SVU. When a detective is shot in the line of duty, out of state detectives come in to solve his murder and to find the truth that his lover has longed to find. JM/OFC
1. Chapter 1

**This following fanficiton does not follow the lines of what I have been doing. This came up in a wacko dream that I had, which resulted in me writing it. It's a crossover between Cold Case and Law and Order: SVU. Had a tough time coming up with how to cross them, but I figured a way to do it. **

**In a way, it branches off from the other story lines I have done. This will not affect any of the other fanfics that I'm planning in the near future. Any parts that in italics are flashbacks in case anyone gets confused with that.  
**

**It's not going to be perfect, but it'll work and hope that some will look past the mistakes of how I got them to crossover. In reality, how they cross would have not happened, if I read my fact right. So, try and work with me here. Been wanting to do this for a while now and with all the writing I have been doing to do this is now possible. **


	2. Chapter 2

May 10, 2006

"Why do you do that?" A tall man stood behind a dark haired woman, reaching behind her and carefully withdrew the knife from her hand. "You know that I can do that for you in case of flashbacks. You just had one and yet-"

"I know, John." Maria swiftly cut him off, "I know about that. I was just wanting to see if I can do this while at work. I really don't need the big bosses to know that I fear knives of any kind." She pushed her glasses back up her face, watching as he took the sharp utensil and cut the evidence box lid open. "I'm trying," She whispered as he looked to one side, giving her a concerned look. "I'm trying my best here."

Looking around to make sure that no one was around, John pulled Maria into a tight hug to reassure her. "Don't worry about it. I know that you're trying, but don't hurt yourself in the process. It's going to take time before you are able to this." He held her close before hearing a door open and quickly released his grasp. _Shit, almost caught that time._

Maria took a few steps away from him and proceeded to remove the contents from the box before a familiar voice got her attention and she released a held breath. "Hey, you two. Casey got the warrant for Warren Micheals. Cragon wants all of us to get him, vests and all." Fin looked at the two, both looking over their shoulders and seem to relax at the sight of seeing him. "And, if you two are done being love birds and all, you might want to start moving your asses. Cragon's in the mood to kick one if Micheals isn't there."

"Even me? But, I don't have a partner...unless he wants a threesome." Maria cracked as she followed the dark skinned man out of the room to the main squad room. Fin just gave her a sideways glance as John snickered at her remark. "I mean really now."

"Maria, you're with Fin and John's going to be with me. No threesomes allowed here." Cragon pipped up from his office, watching as Maria winced, knowing she was heard by her own captain. "Now, let's get moving people. Time is short and I want this bastard's head on a platter, in my office tonight."

-------

Later that night-

In a daze of pain, she gasp for air as she shifted in the position that she was in. An overwhelming shot of pain in her back stopped her from lifting her head far.

As if it by a jolt, she realized that something was wrong. The sounds of people shouting and the flashes of ambulances brought reality crashing down. There was another body near her. Even with the back to her, she recognized the hair color and then it hit her. Some kind of liquid surrounded his upper torso and he wasn't moving.

A small gentle hand rested on Maria's, causing her head to snap back to look at Olivia as tears started to fall. "John? Why is no one helping him? He needs help." She gasped out as Olivia tried to calm her, but her own tears didn't help.

Through the heartbreak and severe pain in her back, Maria tried hard to focus on Olivia and John's still form before everything went dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Philadelphia, PA

Two years later.

"So, what do we have, cap?" Lilly Rush asked as their captain beckoned them into his office. Normally, he never did this, unless the case was unusual.

Closing the door behind his detectives, the sturdy man placed his hands on his hips. "We have a very unusual case. One that we would normally not get involved with." He watched and waited for a reply, but when none came, he continued. "A gun was recovered at a crime scene a few days ago, a robbery. The ID number and the bullets were tested as pre-required and that gun as a murder on it. Two years ago, a New York detective was shot and killed during an attempted arrest on a rape and murderer by the name of Warren Micheals. The man is from here, but committed the crime in New York. Here's where it gets weird. I phoned up the city and they offered a deal to us about this cold case and the suspect. Two of you are going to New York while we trace where the gun came from originally and catch the guy who killed the detective. So, we get the murderer and they can have Warren Micheals. Sounds odd, I know, but for two years they have had no luck finding the son of a bitch who killed one of their best."

"Who's the detective?" Valens questioned, a quizzical look on his face at this odd deal. They watched as he picked up a fax from the nearby fax machine.

"His name's John Munch, a dedicated detective who worked in Homicide in Baltimore before moving to New York for Special Victims. From what I heard, he was one of the best that worked that area." He handed the fax to Scotty, who glanced down at it. "This may be a difficult one at best, however."

"Says here that another detective was shot, but she lived. Doesn't say much, but says that she worked in the same department for a number of years."

"Sex crimes. That's serious stuff." Lilly added as she glanced at the fax, looking for her name. "Name's Maria Frank and also a very dedicated detective as well. Wonder what she has to say about all this."

"Ok, Rush and Valens. Since you two seem interested in all this, you can go to New York and we can stay here and trace where that gun came from. The crime didn't happen here, but the gun's here and we're offering help. Go to the SVU department and find Maria. Maybe she has some answers to this crime."

Looking at each other, Valens and Rush knew one thing; road trip. "Let's go pack our bags then." Lilly commented as she headed out the doo, Scotty close behind.

-------

Three days later-New York City

Entering the Special Victims department, the philly cops looked around before seeing a frowning woman sitting at her desk, papers covering every inch of the desk. Walking over, the dark haired woman looked up and gave a small smile. "Afternoon, I'm detective Benson. Can I help you?"

Lilly pulled her badge out and held it up. "Detectives Rush and Valens. A case turned up in Philadelphia that is linked to this city. A gun has been found that matches a murder of a detective that worked here. Do you know who we can talk to about that?"

Olivia paled at the mention of the case that nearly destroyed the team. Swallowing, she placed down her pencil and stood up, keeping her voice down. "You're talking about John. He was a good man. Our captian is the one to speak to about this." Leading the to where his office was, Olivia relayed what they had said before closing the door behind them.

Motioning the two to sit, Cragon stood and sat on the edge of his desk, folding his hands together. "Detective Munch was one of my best. He did his job well and never really faltered. When the shooting began, I had no idea that it would have been Maria and John, nor having John not make was even harder. Never thought I would see the day that he would bite the bullet." The older man cracked a smile before it disappeared. The memory still painful in his mind.

"And they were your best?" Valens asked, watching his carefully.

"Those two were veterans at this game of cat and mouse. Maria was a veteran from Boston and moved here. Very long story behind that fiasco and John was a retired Homicide cop from Baltimore who moved here. SVU was the only opening that was available to him and he took it." As he reached for a photo frame on his desk, Lilly asked a question that came to her.

"You said that Maria _was._ Is she dead? Last time we thought, she was a alive."

"She is. A month after the shooting, she retired. Took her pension and lives outside of the city. I hear from her every now and then, but other then that no one hears from her. She's become a very quiet person. More of a loner now. This photo was taken a few months before it happened."

Rush and Valens leaned in at the photo, getting a better look at the two people. Two smiling people, the older man sitting at a desk and a younger woman bracing on the desk, looking up at the camera. Lilly's attention was drawn to how the woman's hand covered the man hand, their fingers slightly linked. "They look like they were very close. Were they really close as this photo is showing?"

Cragon released a sigh as if he knew that was going to be asked. Placing the frame back on his desk, he crossed his arms and made eye contact with the two. "Yes, they were. Before they even worked here in the city, they met in Baltimore and fell in love. Long story short, they were still very close when she came from Boston and saw him here. Never saw any other couple as close as they were and they hide it well from the ones that were not suppose to know. Knowing Maria, she does still love him."

"Do you know where she lives?"

Nodding, Cragon grabbed for a pad and pen, wrote down the address and directions before speaking again. "Just to let you know, tread carefully when speaking to her. This is going to be a touchy subject for her. If she snaps, don't take it personally. She's...," He paused a moment before continuing, "it never gets easier loosing someone you love. Maria has a lot of grief in her life and has resulted to push everyone away who tries to get close."

Thanking Cragon, Lilly and Scotty nodded to Benson as they left, climbed into their rented car, and headed to the suburbs. Slowing the car down to the desired speed one they hit the comfortable sized houses, Lilly watched the house numbers before they spotted the right house. "Now, Cragon said to tread easily with her on this. You know how many times we have had to do that, right? But they all react differently."

"This shall be interesting, then." Scotty whispered as they exited the car and made the way up the back sidewalk. As they past an open window, they could hear was sounded like dishes being clinked together.

"Can I help you?" A voice startled them enough to jump, turn and face the open window, possibly the kitchen. "If it has anything to do with donating, I'm not interested."

"No, it's alright. We're detectives from Philadelphia here to talk to you." Lilly stepped up to the window enough to see the outline of a person.

"Badges and names?" The faucet was turned on and the sound of plates hitting each other traveled though the window.

Lilly pulled out her badge and flashed it as Scotty flashed his. "I'm Lilly Rush and this is Scotty Valens. We're here because of a shooting and murder that happened two years ago. A detective you knew was killed that night." Lilly waited for a reply, but when none came, she carefully continued as well. "You were shot as well, Maria. We want to help you find who killed John."

The water was turned off and they listened intently, hoping that she was going to let them in.


	4. Chapter 4

In which she was debating. Closing her eyes and grabbing at the chain necklace around her neck, Maria wanted those images to leave her mind. To just leave her alone and never come back. But they haunted her in her dreams and in her life. The scar on her back was deep from the bullet and hard to forget from her mind. For months, she tried to find the answers that had plagued her about what had happened. Now, two people, who she had never met in her life, wanted to find the killer. Biting the inside of her bottom lip and glancing down at the necklace, Maria sighed. "Ok, you can come it. The door's unlocked."

Carefully opening the door, Rush and Valens got to see the lone survivor. She looked almost the same from the photo, but the look in her eyes were different. The shine that was once in them were gone and filled with lost and grief. The dark circles under her eyes only added to her misery. "I'm guessing that you talked to Don Cragon about it first?"

Lilly started to tread carefully on the dark water. "We did talk to captain Cragon first and," She thought carefully before continuing, "he suggested we talk to you as you knew the victim more then the others." Lilly watched as Maria's eyes shifted from looking at her to looking at her partner and back. It gave Lilly a feeling that Maria was looking into their souls for some reason.

Opening the refrigerator door, Maria pulled out a green can of soda, popped the lid and leaned against the counter. "Guess Cragon was right about that." She stared at the can before continuing. "So, you're opening John's case, huh? You do that all the time?"

"We solve cases that have gone cold. To us, it doesn't matter how long that case has been cold-"

"Bet you can't solve them all though. Not all cases, cold or not, get solved." Maria cut off Scotty, looking at him over her glasses. "I've tried since the day I was out of the hospital to find who did it. Wish I knew what the bastard looked like so I could have shot him myself, but the ass shot first."

Lilly thought carefully before stepping deeper. "But, do you know where the shots came from?"

"Yeah."

"Where? What direction? Above, below, in front, behind you?"

Maria took a few deep breaths as she struggled to remember where. She knew where, from her constant dreams, but now she couldn't even think of it properly. "I-It was in front and above." She whispered, her fingers cletching the chain necklace around her neck. "Like a fifteen foot person was in front of us." She shook her head roughly, shaking it out of her mind and back into the box in the back of her memory, locking it back inside. Her green eyes moved to look at them before motioning them too follow her to the living room. "John was a good man and did his job well. He took no prisoners when it came to women and children."

"Your former captain told us that you and he had a relationship outside of work." Scotty said bluntly, soon wishing that it didn't come out that way as Maria's head snapped in the direction of where he was standing. Her buring glare made him involuntarily look away. "Sorry."

Maria looked him over, gathering what information she could figure out from him. "You're awfully young, Mr. Valens. It wouldn't surprise me if you had the likings for a fellow co-worker, now is it?" She reached into a near by cage and pulled out a squirming white rodent before sitting down. "John was the only one, from other men, who appreciated who I was and what I did for a living. It was not some office fling. A one night stand if that comes to mind. We met before New York and it was deeper then you really think."

Scotty glanced at Lilly, wanting her to take the lead again. Lilly sat down in the chair before Maria, watching as the animal climbed out of her arms and sat on her shoulder. "Cragon had told us about Baltimore and what happened there. From how you have dedicated the last two years and how you are defending him, he was very important to you. Wasn't he, Maria?"

Letting out a held sigh, her expression softened and she leaned back into the couch, relaxing for the first time since they walked into the door. "Yeah, he was. I loved him. I still love him. If we could have and were allowed to, he would have wanted to make it permanent between us. Our last personal time together was...he had acted weird about something. He was always a little off when it came to the government or anyone of higher ranking what-have-you, but something was off that night."

"What happened that night?"

"It started out like it always did..."

_"Now, come on. Did you not see that camera on the fifth avenue? How could you not see it?!" His voice was halfway squeaking as they made their usual route to her apartment. _

_"You're paranoid. That was not a camera from 'big brother' John. That was a power box that has been there for years. I'm not too surprised though at you jumping to conclusion like that." She shook her head as she unlocked the door, allowed him in first and closed it behind her. Once his coat had been placed in its usual spot, Maria wrapped her arms around his waist. "If you are so worried about us being watched and me being 'on the CIA's hit list', you may want to check my room for bugs." She reached a hand up and touched a finger to the tip of his nose, her way to make him smile. _

_"And...I'm guessing you want to 'help' find these bugs?" He smiled down at her, glancing at her over his glasses._

_"You bet your ass I do."She whispered, their faces inches from eachother's before the sound of a cell phone going off broke the moment. "Oh, damn. That had better not be the case that was just closed." Maria hissed as John stepped away and glanced at the ID._

_Frowning, John looked at Maria and saw the look on her face. "Sorry, babe. I gotta take this some place else." Walking into the kitchen and sliding the slider door closed, Maria stood there and could not understand why he did that. Glancing down at Ace, her K9 partner, she fumbled through her thoughts, trying to figure out why._

_"He has never done that, boy. Never." Sitting down on the edge of the couch, she listened for any sounds that came from that room, but with no such luck until the door opened twenty minutes later. Turning to look at him, Maria saw a quick scared look on his face before it vanished. "John, anything wrong? It is one of the exes?"_

_"No, it's nothing. Just the captain wanting to know something about the case." He placed his phone next to her's and pulled her into his arms. "Nothing to worry about, sweetie. Nothing at all."_

_Maria slowly moved her head to get a better look at him to be sure. "Are you sure?" _

_He pressed his own lips against her's before looking at her again, chuckling. "I'm positively sure that it's nothing. Now, how about we 'search' for the bugs?"_

"Next day, he was gone. Along with the majority of my own life. Ace passed on sometime later as well. It feels like I've lost everything. The only thing that's really keeping me going are these little dudes." She reached a hand up and rubbed the guinea pig on her shoulder, who started to coo with happiness. "That photo over there," She motioned to a frame on a shelf, "is the last one that was taken before it happened. When we were really happy."

Lilly got up and carefully looked at it. Maria was right, they did look very happy. "When was this one taken? Cragon had one on his desk that was month before it happened."

Standing and gathering the creature in her arms, Maria reached a hand out and popped the back, pulled it out and showed Lilly the back of the photo. "It had been taken the morning before. His partner wrote that note on the back since it had been developed two weeks afterwords. He offered to destroy it or keep it, but I wanted it. It's my way to remember what we were really like and it's a really nice sunrise that was caught as well."

Scotty glanced over Lilly's shoulder and read the name on the back. "Fin? Is it sort for something?"

"Odafin. Besides John, he's one of my closest friends. Due to my injuries and the drug induced coma I was in, Fin told me what it was like." Maria sniffled and quickly wiped the tears away, not wanting them to see her crying. She hated that. "I still visit the gravestone every week, dropping off flowers or just wanting to sit there and talk as if he was there." She looked down at the creature in her arms, who had been staring at her as if wanting to know why she was crying. "I'm sorry. I hate crying in front of others."

Lilly placed the photo back in place, fixed the back and placed a hand on Maria's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. We will find the person that did this." Maria looked at the detective and could see that she was ready to find him. "Does Odafin still work at SVU?"

"No, he is now working at a drug rehabilitation center near Harlem. He wanted to go back to helping people with drug problems instead of sex crimes and after what happened. Pretty much the whole team has split up and we went our separate ways." She placed the fur ball back into his cage and reached into a shelf drawer. "It's probably better that way." She whispered as she looked up the address to the clinic.

Finding the address, she wrote it down and gave descriptive directions before handing it to the closest detective. "Look, when you see Fin, tell him that I say hi and hope that he's well? We hven't spoken to each other for the past month or so."

Shaking her hand, Valens and Rush headed out the door, not noticing that they were being watched by her. The grief stricken woman stood there in front of the sink, tears running down her face in sadness. "I'm sorry, John," was whispered as she shut her eyes and grasped that necklace once again.


	5. Chapter 5

"Why the hell did you say that, Scotty? And why so bluntly?" Lilly stared at her partner as he turned a corner to go down the main road, his eyes glued to the black pavement. When she got no answer, Lilly tried again. "Scotty, why did you have to say that to her so bluntly?"

"I don't know. It just...happened." He sighed as the pulled up to a stop light. Rubbing his hands on his face, Valens looked up at the gray clouds, wondering. "She really hasn't done well since it happened, has she?"

"Well, let's see. She lost the only real person who loved her, the last thing they did was comfort each other, and she was in a coma when they had his funeral. What makes you think that she would be fine?" Both detectives made eye contact, wondering who could have done an awful thing. "What I'm thinking that phone call is the key to finding the murderer and I really do hope that his former partner has an idea."

"What makes you think that he might know more then the girlfriend?" Scotty questioned as they headed down the road, nearing where the clinic was located.

"Maybe Fin heard something that she didn't." Lilly remarked as they got out of the car and headed into the two leveled building. Looking both ways, they had to wait for a group of people to move away from the view of the front desk before announcing themselves.

"Detectives Valens and Rush. We are here to see a person named Fin." Scotty said as he flashed his badge, seeing the look of wonder on the man's face.

"Tutoula? Sure, I'll see if he's done with his meeting. Just take a seat over there."

Sitting in the slightly uncomfortable chairs, it didn't take long before the two out of town detectives were greeted by an African American man with his dark hair pulled back. "I'm Fin. How can I help you?"

Scotty stood and shook his hand. "Yes, we're from Philadelphia and were here about a shooting that happened two years ago."

Fin seemed a little taken back about where they were from, not quite understanding why they were there. "Wait. You both are from Pennsylvania? What kind of case would bring you here?"

Lilly took a deep breath before speaking, not knowing how he was going to react with this. "The gun that killed your partner two years ago turned up in our city. We're here to help." They both watched as Fin's expression fell into a sullen look.

"Oh, well. I guess we should talk in my office before continuing this conversation." He motioned them to follow him down a hall to a small office, the desk covered in paper work and a window shade hung open to allow light in. Sinking into the chair behind the desk, Fin linked his fingers together and waited for them to sit themselves before continuing. "Having Munch shot on the job was tough, but I didn't think nor believe that it would have killed him."

"How did it happen?" Scotty asked, keeping his guard up on how he worded his sentences now.

"The...bullet hit his artery and another detective was shot in the back, hitting her lung. Did you talk to her?"

"We know about Maria and how they were, relationship-wise."

"Good. That saves me the trouble of describing her to ya two." Fin's eyes glanced down at the top of his desk, lost in thought. "She took it so hard. She didn't sleep, talk or even eat after it happened. When she left, she was at least twenty pounds lighter. How's she doing?"

"Miserable looking, but she says hi to you." Lilly kept her voice calm, seeing that the gruff looking man had indeed been affected by the death just as much as Maria had been. "She's the one who gave us directions to where you are."

A small smile broke across his face. "She's a good kid. Not that she's a kid anyway. Hell, she's a few years older then me!" He leaned back in his chair, hearing it creak a little. "John never looked happier when she was around. He always told her everything that came across his mind and she was the one to calm him down when some big controversy came into that big head of his."

"You three must have been close, knowing this and more." Valens commented as he wrote notes down in his little notebook.

"I have watched over her since the day she came to New York from Boston. It felt like we were the three stooges or something. When we weren't really busy, they would goof off or start rambling about politics to the point that I was going to put them in separate rooms." His dark eyes moved to where they were sitting, watching their expressions. "She hasn't smiled since it happened."

"When we had talked with her, she had said that John had received a phone call the day before it happened. Would you know anything about that?"

Frowning a little, Fin concentrated on his thoughts, trying to think back. "Did she say what it was about?"

"No, just that John had told her that it was nothing to worry about."

"And I bet he left when he got that call right?" Fin watched as they nodded their heads. "Figured. She always hated it when he did that."

"Did he do it often?" Lilly was now leaning in her chair, elbows now resting on top of his desk.

"Never. They were always very open about what was going on in their lives. But, that was not the first time it happened. A week before, he got a call on his cell and he was with me..."

_"So, how's Maria doing this morning?" Fin asked his older partner as he refilled the coffee pot for anyone else who wanted some._

_"She was pretty chipper this morning, but I don't think that it'll last with this case now. She's going to go from happy to bitchy in two point 5 milliseconds once she gets into the interrogation." John finished with a mutter as his phone started to ring. Frowning, he answered it, keeping his voice down._

_Fin strained his ears as he tried to listen to what John was saying. _

_"I understand." _

_Fin's eyes shifted to one side when he sensed the tone in his voice changing. _

_"What does that mean I have to do?" _

_Fin focused on what he was hearing even as he sat down at his desk, which was across from John's. _

_"Alright. I'll see what I can do. Thanks, doc." Closing his phone, John made a note on a pad, stuffed it in his pocket and leaned forward in his seat. His expression showed that something big was bothering him._

_"Hey, Munch. You 'kay?"_

_Nodding, the older man released a breath that he seemed to be hiding for a long time. "Yep, just they usual events."_

"I have seen him bothered before, but that call caused him to be paranoid of his own paranoia. It did scare me for a while and it still bothers me to this day."

"Who was this doc that you had mentioned?" Scotty looked up from his notes and looked at the face of the other man.

"I never really thought about it, but, I believe it was Dr. George Huang. He's a shrink that was available to talkin' or support. He tried several times to talk to Maria after it happened, but she just shoved him away." Fin pinched the bridge of his nose and exhailed. "Never thought that this would bug me so much having to remember all of this. That's why I left SVU and came to work here. I couldn't get past the idea of not having to paranoid nut head around anymore."

"Where does Dr. Huang work?" Valens asked as he and Lilly stood, getting ready to leave.

"He's a pshyciatrist that works for the FBI."


	6. Chapter 6

"An FBI agent calling a detective several times before he dies? Sounds like John knew something that no one else did." Scotty mussed as they pulled into the motel parking lot, lighting up the dark building with the headlights.

"And it required the need of a federal agent." Lilly added as they exited the car and checked in at the front desk. "How about you call up Captain and I'll have a little talk with this Captain. We can talk with this Huang tomorrow morning."

"This late at night? Don't you think that he might be in bed at this hour?" Scotty questioned as he took his room key, while she took her's.

"If I'm right on the money, he doesn't sleep like we don't. Besides, I want to ask him something." She replied as she headed into the direction of her room, leaving Scotty to find his. Once entering her small room, Lilly dug out the phone book and looked though it and searched for the phone number to the special victims department. There was something that was bugging her about this case and more.

Finding that number, she dialed it quickly and glad to know that Cragon was the first one to answer it.

"What would you like to know?"

"Everything."

------------

Sitting in the quiet coffee shop, Cragon and Rush bent over an open file with their coffee untouched and cold. "To know more about what had happened, you must know the people involved." Cragon quietly said as he lifted a few papers, looked them over and handed them to Rush. "And the first person to know is Maria."

"I have a feeling that there was more then just the usual relationship that we've heard of." She replied as she read over the papers. "So, what's the real reason why Maria came to New York? We know about Boston, but...?"

"Yes, there's more. Maria was a very good cop in Boston. She did her job no matter what and always gave or did her best to make a hundred percent on a case. But, from what I've learned, when she met John in Baltimore, they both fell hard for each other. When she was due to leave, they spent one last night together, without protection and that resulted in a child. A little boy that she named Scott. We never met him as, before coming here, he developed pneumonia and past not long after. He was about three or four years old and it haunts her to this day that she could not save him." He stopped to consider his next sentence, wording it carefully. "She was terribly raped, tortured and left to die one night, in the city, and it turned out to be her partner from Boston who was committing terrible crimes of murder to past cases."Cragon stopped as a waitress walked by, not wanting her to over hear what they were doing. Lowering his voice, Cragon proceeded to continue once she had disappeared. "John was her only safety zone through that case. She trusted no one, except him and Fin, as she feared that we would turn on her and harm her as well. When you had visited her, did you notice any unusual scars on her?"

Leaning back, Lilly thought back to when they saw her. "I could only see one and that was on her neck. It was horizontal and it looked to be an old one."

Nodding, Cragon glanced at his cold cup of coffee, considering drinking it anyway. "That's one of them. When she had been raped, the bastard slashed her up terribly with a pocket knife that he had. That neck wound was suppose to have killed her, but he didn't cut deep enough and she lived. But it still haunts her to this day. John was the only one capable to push her to stay in SVU as long as she did. Even if he was danger, he would have taken any bullet to save her."

"And he did." Lilly finished quietly, feeling an emotional pull that came from this case.

"Yes, he did. He would have rather risk his own well-being, health and life to save her from any more pain then she already needed. Her parents, son, and lover are gone from this earth. Even her K9 partner passed not too long after it happened. There is so much pain that comes from this case, but I don't think I have met anyone who has lost as much as she has." Cragon looked the female detective hard in the face. "This is the reason why you must understand her to know him. Yes, he was cynical, sarcastic and always looking for a conspiracy, but they loved each other so much that not even a nuclear holocaust would have separated them."

"Even in death, she still loves him."

"I never thought that she would stop. She still loves her son, even though he's gone and she always loved to talk about him." Cragon gave a small smile as he remembered one conversation with her. " But, something about that night was really off. Not one of us could figure out who the shots were for. We did consider Maria, but from the way John was acting, there was something else wrong. Like he knew something that we didn't."

"We've heard of something like that. When we had talked to Fin, he was said that John had received a call from someone that he believes is this George Huang."

"Huang? Really? Well, that wouldn't be a first for Huang to be an informant of something serious, but having John involved as well?" The older man chuckled as he sat back in his chair, hands behind his head. "John was always paranoid about the Government and the Feds, and just the thought of him working with them makes me wonder if I really knew him. If Maria really knew him."

"I don't know. We're going to be talking with Huang tomorrow and hope we can find those answers for you and her."

"She got to you, didn't she?"

"I've seen people trying to know why their loved ones were killed, but there was something about her. The lost in her eyes, how depressed she looked when we spoke to her..."

"I know that expression well. She gives off a very emotionless, blank look when troubled by something. Anything that bothered her." He paused a moment to take a small sip from his coffee. "It was also a great way to get suspects to confess."

Lilly took her chance to ask a question that was off the record. "If you don't mind me asking, did you see the shooting up close?"

He nodded as he slightly bowed his head. "Yeah. When it started, I was with her and John was with Fin. John was right there in front of her, shielding her from the shots. Then, John lurched forward and was down. A few seconds later, she was down with a shot to the back."

"Where was he shot?"

"His chest...the artery to be exact. The," He stumbled on the word, "Coroner said that he didn't feel a thing and he went very quick."

Lilly could tell that it did greatly disturb the older man, just from how he was acting. She couldn't blame him. Loosing one of the best during a supposed normal arrest warrent and the majority of the team breaking up because of it? They had been one big family and the event broke them all apart. "Captain Cragon," She stood and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I thank you for telling me this information. To know what kind of person we're trying to get justice for does make us more determined to get the shooter all the more. To know who he had cared for and who still care for him, I promise we will get the person. If needed to tell me more, this is my card and feel free to call at any time." She handed his her cell number on a business card and watched him nod.

"I'm sure that Huang will give you more information pertaining to what he and John were talking about. He's always been a straight forward kind of guy about giving the truth." Cragon said as he stood, taking the bill with him. "And I'll pay for this. Finding John's killer is more important to you instead of the bill here."

Heading out the door, Lilly gave the man a sad smile, thinking of the udder pain and sadness that he had seen. What Maria, Fin and the others were dealing with made her more determined.

---------------------

**Sorry that this took so freakin long to get up. The chapter and I had a little war and, this time, I won for once. I would consider this a filler, I guess. I'm hoping that I can get the next one up in a few days, but we shall see how that one goes. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, feel free to kick me for taking so long on this...**

"So, what happened last night?" Scotty asked as they pulled up to the FBI building the next morning, his morning coffee held in his grasp as to warm them up from the early morning chill.

"Just trying to get to know the people more with this case. Cragon was able to give me more information about what we are dealing with. He had said that this Huang person always tells the honest truth, no matter what. Let's hope that he has the right answers." Lilly replied as she climbed out of the car and both walked through the door of the federal building.

Moments after entering the building, the were both met by an Asian man who seemed to have been waiting for them. "Cragon told me that you would be stopping by and I've got a good feeling about what this is about. Figured I'd meet you here first and get right to business."

Sitting down before Huang in his office, Lilly popped the question first. "We were told that you had spoken to Mr. Munch frequent times before his death. What were those calls about?"

Sighing, Huang folded his fingers together on the desk and leaned forward. He knew that the first question was going to be that. "The case they had been working on, about Warren Michaels, had secret that," He paused a moment, thinking of how to say it right, "was very dangerous and could possibly take a life. John had found out about the dangerous information while working the case. It was of a mass murder of a family had disappeared and no one knew of what had happened. All that had been found was pools of blood and that was it. Don't ask me how he found out, but once word got out about it, he started getting threats. I kept in very close contact with him, warning him of new threats and giving him advice of what to do to protect himself and Maria, in case threats went after her as well."

"Would you be able to tell us what type of information?"

Huang shook his head. "Sorry. Considering what had happened, that information went with him when he passed. He didn't even tell me of what it was, only that it could crack that old case. Then the threats started coming and we feared he was being followed for a while before it happened. We kept telling him that, but his first question was always 'what about Maria? Is she in danger?' I always told him that I was not sure, but stay close to her in case." Moving his eyes from them, he stared at a folder that sat in an open drawer and seemed lost in thought. "I wish I had an answer for Maria. I wish that I could tell her of what happened, but there's nothing that I can do to help her with what she's fighting."

"Dr. Huang?" Scotty pulled George's attention back to reality as he lifted his head, the folder held in his hands.

"I'm sorry about that." He apologized, bowing his head. "Thinking of what I could have done to stop it still bothers me." He finished as his phone rang, causing him to hold a finger up while he answered it. Both detectives watched as his facial features changed to a concerned look. "I'll tell them. Thank you." Hanging up, Huang stood and motioned them to follow. "Come with me. Maria's in the hospital from an emotional breakdown. Cragon was speaking to her today at her house and she broke down when they started speaking about John. I think you are going to want to speak to her again, right?"

Following closely behind Huang, Lilly nodded as Scotty answered. "We sure do."

-------------------

Carefully opening the door to the hospital room, the three people looked to see Cragon, Fin, Benson and an unknown male standing by a hospital bed. Maria was laying on her side, eyes open but staring off, and hand clutched around something with a chain. An IV drop was near her, giving her fluids that she seemed to have needed due to her condition. "How is she doing, Don?" Huang asked as he carefully neared her to get a closer look at her.

"The doc says that she's stable for now, but the sedation drugs have made her a little spaced out and he believes that she's a little dehydrated. Her eyes have moved to look at us, but she's not acknowledging us." He nodded his head towards Lilly and Scotty. "How's the case going?"

"Taking twists and turns here." Scotty commented as Lilly stepped closer to Maria's side and bent down to look in her face. Once she came into view of her, the green eyes shifted to look at Lilly's pale face. A slight frown appeared before quickly disappearing and was replaced by an emotionless stare that gave Lilly chills.

"Mind if I speak to her along for a minute? She may not be able to talk back, but I just want to speak to her. Let her know of what's happening." Lilly quietly asked as she looked up at Cragon and the others, hoping they would give them space.

Fin firmly shook his head. "I'm not leavin' her. Not in the condition that she's in."

"Fin, please. This is to help John and Maria. God knows that Ms. Rush may just help her, if Huang can't get her to talk. Once she's done talking to her, you can go back to watching her." Cragon pleaded with the darker man, wanting him to take a breather. Reluctantly, Fin looked down at Maria's motionless body, sighed and slowly left the room.

Once the door was closed, Lilly turned her attention to Maria once again. "Maria? It's detective Rush. Do you remember me?"

The green eyes continued to stare into her face, as if reading her soul before muttering an answer. "Sure. The detective who came to my house yesterday."

"That's right and you spoke to me and my partner." She stopped, thinking before speaking again. "I'm sorry if I had caused you any emotion trauma and old wounds to open. Captain Cragon had informed me of how important he was to you, how he protected you with his life. I wish I could take back what I had said to put you here."

"Have you ever lost someone important in your life?" Maria muttered her question, blinking only once while continuing her staring at Lilly. "Someone who protected you during difficult times? Have you?" Her last question came out as a quiet snap, getting her full attention.

Lilly could only shake her head as she slightly bowed it in defeat. "No, but my partner has."

Maria released a held breath, one she seemed to have been holding for a while, before speaking again. "No one is immortal, Ms. Rush. No one is. Not even a four year old boy can be saved by my hands. I have lost almost everything on this planet. Why bother going on living, helping victims when your a victim yourself? Holding a young victim in your arms, wishing that it was your own flesh and blood. Watching men protect their loved ones from harm, even when we are trying to help them and wishing that you had someone watching you once again." She shifted from her side postion and rolled onto her other side, back to Lilly. "I'm a bitter person now. Why bother helping me when there is no information? When John can not be helped anymore? You're just waisting your time when you could be helping someone else."

Lilly, feeling a vibe that was her pain, reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maria, truth is, we are not going to stop until we get the person who did this to you. Who took the one person who loved you away. From what I now know about you, what pain you have experienced, I am going to help you no matter comes into my path. You deserve the answers that are being hidden from you, that you have looked for, for so long. Please, let me continue doing this. For John and for your son."

Maria looked over her shoulder, staring at the detective with eyes clouded by some unknown feeling. "Cragon told you about my son, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. Mind if I ask, what are you holding in your hand?"

Maria lifted her hand and released her grasp, exposing a ring on a chain necklace. "John gave it to me some years ago. I'm not one for expensive things, but he wanted me to have it. It's from my birthday a year after my...attack." She closed her grasp once again and the hand was pulled under the covers, as if to protect it.

Both continued to stare at each other until the door was open, Fin looking nervous to return back in. "Is it alright to come back in now?"

Nodding, Lilly stood and gave her shoulder one last reassuring sqeeze until she saw that Huang was giving her a small wave and mouthing to her. Seeing as he wanted to speak to her and Scotty in private, she left the others to follow Huang back to his car. "What's the matter?"

Huang reached into the inside of his work jacket and pulled out the vanilla folder, considering what he was about to was illegal. "I was not being totally honest with you earlier. Truth be told, John is not dead. He's in witness protection and what I'm about to tell and show you may just be the key."

Scotty looked as shocked as Lilly. "Couldn't you loose your job doing this?"

"Yes, I could. But I'm more worried about Maria then anything else. Besides I know the U.S. marshall that watches him and he will be more then willing to help out."


	8. Chapter 8

Waiting patiently, Lilly sat in a small room while Scotty leaned against a wall. Being that the federal building was huge, they were placed into the smallest and secluded room possible as they were dealing with sensitive issues at that moment. "Who knew that we would get drawn into this. Having to wait for a U.S. Marshall to bring him is un-nerving, but what he's going to tell us makes me nervous." Lilly whispered as she leaned against the table.

"And what Maria will think once she finds out that his alive. If they will let them see each other."

"They had better. Going through all of this must be hell for him just as much as it is to her."

Before Scotty could reply, a knock caused them both to look up at the door. Standing, they watched as they door was open and a U.S. Marshal walked in, followed by another man. They finally got to see the illusive John Munch, looking much the same as he did in the photographs, but with a little more gray hair and the look of a permanent frown. "Am I being moved to another state? You know how much I hate that." He muttered.

"No worries, John. These two are from Pennsylvania and they are working on the case of your per say murder. The gun that almost killed you turned up in their place and they are here to help solve it." Huang explained as he walked in behind him, closing the door once they were all in. "If you'll tell us whats what, you may just get to be with Maria again."

"Maria?!" His head turned to look at the man, the shock and concern in his face. "Is she all right? I want to see her."

"She misses you. She needs you, John. Just answer a few of their questions and we can go see her." Huang carefully spoke to the troubled looking man, who stood over him and giving him a look of pleading. "Please. Just do this one thing and we can go see her."

Letting out a defeated sigh, John lowered his eyes and sat down in the chair nearest to him. Glancing at Lilly and Scotty, who had both sat down, his facial features relaxed and he removed his tinted glasses. "What do you want to know?"

Lilly glanced over at Scotty, his notebook out, before speaking. "How did you find out about the information about the missing family, presumed murdered?"

John closed his eyes briefly before opening them, remembering back to it. "The neighbor of the missing family came forward about it. Telling me that Warren Michaels had done something terrible about the family as he never saw them again. That was a month before it happened. A week after the neighbor told me about it, he was found dead. Killed execution style and then threats started coming in that I was next."

"Did they have any leads about the neighbor's death?"

"Homicide took that case and, from what we were told, they had nothing. They checked every one but no one came forward about it. People were scared. No one wanted to be next, but since I had the information, you can see what happened." John opened his shirt to reveal the bullet wound that had healed directly over his heart, where the main artery was. A scar, trailing above where the injury had healed, was what was left from the surgery that saved him. "I was placed under the witness protection the moment they were finished with the surgery and I was moved to an out of state hospital to recover before I was moved to a temporary living situation." He looked up at them before glancing at the U.S. Marshal, who arms were crossed over his chest. "I didn't even..."

"We can go now, if you want to." Huang said quietly, sensing that he was about to break down. Looking over at the Marshal, the glare he was getting was not going to make him back down. "I know what you're thinking and I don't care if this is breaking the rules, Thomas. Taking the sniper off of the streets can and will give him his life back. It will end the glaring that you've been getting from him, the bitter remarks."

Thomas let out a long held sigh, not liking this one bit. "You know how many times you have pushed the limits with this, George. This is just going over the limit, having him see this woman. We are not allowed to do that."

"Screw the rules, Thomas. Let him see her. Let him be with her and get his life back. He needs that back once the sniper is found."

Before Thomas could open his mouth again to make another point out to the Federal agent, he was soon faced with the taller, angry looking man he had been watching for the past two years. "I have agreed with every move and every name change you have slapped in front of me, Tom. Please, let me just get my way for once here. If I have to go back under the protection once this is done, let me bring her with me. At this point in my life, she is all I have left. Same for her, Thomas. Please."

Grinding his teeth in protest, Thomas shoved his hands into his pockets. "Where would she be located right now?"

"She's in the hospital after an emotional breakdown. She's doing fine, though." Huang quickly added, seeing the distress in John's face.

"The hospital? How long has she been there?" John paled a little. "And when were you going to tell me?"

"Lilly stepped up, not knowing if he was going to bite her in anger or give her a death stare. "She's only been in there for a few days, Mr. Munch. I've been spending time with her to keep her company while waiting for you and getting word from my fellow colleagues from Philly." She looked over at the Marshal, his expression could have helped him win a poker game. "Let's just do this. Heaven knows, keeping them apart is not going to help with this case. If John was the main target, was Maria shot to make things not look suspicious? How would we know until they are together and get things sorted out."

Not liking how any of this was going, Thomas gave in as he pulled out his cell phone. "Let me make a few calls to get some back up and we'll go. If I don't agree to this, you all will end nagging me until I crack, right?" He smirked as he left the room, cell phone to ear.

John looked over at Lilly, a look that showed the gratefulness in his face as he nodded in her direction. "How has she been doing? You said you have been talking with her."

"Lilly pulled on her light jacket as Scotty got up as well, stuffing his notebook back into his pocket. "Emotionally, she's a wreck. Yesterday, she tried to pull out her IV drop in anger and frustration. The doctor's ended up sedating her again, even though she started the sedation."

"I hate seeing her in pain. I hate seeing her suffer like this." John mumbled to himself as he lowered his head in defeat.

Scotty took a stand on the other side of John, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Once backup comes, we'll be off to see her. There have been others there watching her while we are out. Your former partner? He has not left her side."

"Fin?" A small smile crossed his face. "He's always watched over her."

The sound of a door opening caused all three to turn in the direction of seeing Thomas standing there, closing his phone. "Alrightly. Two other Marshals are coming now and we'll head to the hospital. Get a coat on, John, I don't want to be resbonsible in case you get a cold."

John gave him a sarcastic/confused look at the remark. "When did you start caring, Thomas?"

""Since I've been cornered about letting you go with this and a possible chance at getting your life back." He gave him a sullen look as he tossed him a light coat and left the room to speak to Huang.

Pulling on the light coat over his button shirt, John let out a sigh as if a large weight was lifted off of his shoulders. "Hang on, Maria. I'm coming, sweetie."


	9. Chapter 9

"I don't want to talk to you, Ms. Rush." Maria mumbled as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the nurse's needle. "I'm done talking, I'm done listening. I just want to forget all of this, get out of this hospital and go on with what I have left in my life." She hissed out before looking back at the detective, he green eyes showed her emotional wreak she was in, but she was not admitting it.

Fin sat silently in the corner of the room, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and knowing very well to not get involved when Maria was pissed. Lilly stood there in the entrance of the room, looking right at the older woman who was sat up in the bed and her right arm outstretch for the nurse to take a blood sample. "I'm not here to spend time with you, Maria. I've come to tell you something that you may really want to know and see."

"Really? Did the shooter drop himself into your lap?" She stared at Lilly, wishing for her to continue this game and not have her included no more. She wanted no more of it. She just wanted to mourn her lost loved ones in peace. Noticing that Lilly was not moving from her standing position, Maria let out a held sigh which sounded like a growl of annoyance. "What is it that you brought?"

Giving a small smile, Lilly stuck her head out of the room and motioned for someone to come in. Not watching what she was doing, Maria looked down at the newly made needle mark, watching the blood clot over the tiny hole and kept her eyes on it until she heard a voice that she had not heard for a long time. "Maria?"

Slowly raising her head, her eyes met the dark shade covered ones that she had not seen for a long time. He stood in the entrance of the room, three Marshals standing behind him and a smiling Lilly standing to the side. Fin, having been the funeral, looked like he was seeing a ghost as his dark face paled slightly at seeing his former partner standing there.

Maria stared at him, mouth slightly open and tears falling out of her eyes in shock. "John?" Her non IV hand shot up to her mouth as she started crying, watching as he walked towards the bed and pulled her into a very tight hug. "I..I thought..."

"I'm so sorry, baby." John cried as he hide his face into her neck, tears streaming from his eyes. "I tried...I wanted to...they wouldn't let me." He pulled back to just look into her face, wiping the tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "I missed you so much, Maria. I wanted them to let me bring you with me, but they would not let me. I didn't even get to say good bye to you."

"Please, don't tell me you have to say good bye now?" She pleaded, pressing her forehead against his and closing her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"Witness protection the moment I was out of surgery and I'm threatening Thomas over there that I'm not going back under unless you are with me." He removed his shades to look her straight into the eyes before deeply kissing her in a way that showed how much he missed her.

Once Maria pulled him closer, all thoughts of remember that the others were there was forgotten. Fin stood up, still in the shock that he was in and weaseled his way through the standing people, pulling out his cell phone as he went. Lilly and Scotty both shifted uncomfortably from their positions and looked at each other. The three Marshals took their chance to stand across the hall, watching people pass by.

Pulling back a little, John held her in a tight hug and breathed in her scent. He remembered that certain smell very well, after wishing that he would be able to hold the holder of that certain scent since the day he had been tossed into the insanity called Witness Protection. "I'm not going anywhere now that we're together. I promise." He sternly stated, pulling back to look in her face and hands on the side of her face to look her right in the face. "I have the scar to prove that I'm not disappearing again and I know that you do as well."

Maria swallowed when he mentioned the scar from the shooting, showing that she was still nervous about what happened and where the sniper was. "But he, or she, is still out there. What if someone else is in danger? Who else is going to pay for this insanity?" She pleaded, Maria's eyes wide with fear before looking to see Thomas standing there. "Go away. He's not leaving."

John turned to see Thomas standing there, a sullen look etch in his face. John frowned as Maria's hold on his shoulder tightened, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. "Thomas, I'm not going anywhere. Force me all you want, I'm not moving. I don't care for protection anymore, Tom. I just want her."

"I'm not taking you away, John, and I'm not planning on doing that until this is done. Huang spoke to me about all of this and what you know about this, did you see the the sniper?" Thomas stuffed his hands into his pocket, the look on his face relaxing.

Once John nodded, Scotty had his notebook out and Lilly closing the door as he started speaking. "The sniper's a male, white, dark type of hair and I saw a scar on his face."

"Did you see what type of scar?" Scotty questioned as he finished writing down what he had said.

"Yeah, it went from his left eyebrow and it traveled down to or under the chin." He motioned with his free hand of where it went. Once Scotty nodded and closed his notebook, he headed out the door with Thomas close behind. Lilly stayed in the room and looked at the two people. John looked at her with a poker type face, not knowing what emotion should come out now. Instead, he turned back to Maria and wrapped his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. "I'm staying here tonight."

Running her fingers back through his hair, Maria rested her chin on his shoulder and looked at Lilly. Both women made eye contact and, for the first time since meeting her, Maria showed a true smile. A genuine smile that showed and proved she was happy again, having the one man she loved back in her arms. "Thank you, Ms. Rush." She whispered to the young woman before closing her eyes, smile still playing on her lips.

-------------------------

"John? Is that really you?"

Maria woke up to see four figures standing over her, John's form against her but he was sitting up after pulling himself up onto the bed and making himself comfortable during the night. Shifting a little, Maria could clearly see that Lilly was still there along with the former colleagues.

"Yeah, it's me. Long story though."

Cragon sat down in the closest chair and sighed. He had not expected to see one of his best detectives back from the dead, in a way. Benson chewed on the inside of her bottom lip as if she was fighting the tears. the unknown male to Lilly, Elliot Stabler, rubbed the back of his head with his hand as if not believing what he was seeing or hearing. Fin, however, still had the look of seeing a ghost. "Where'd the hell have you been, man? What the Hell is in that coffin?"

"Sandbags. Not only to slow down flooding but to also counterweight a person who is suppose to be dead." John remarked as he unconsciously ran his fingers through Maria's hair as she nestled closer to him. "I had been housed in New Jersey. They wanted to ship me to Ohio, but I wouldn't let them take me that far. I wanted to stay as close to home, and Maria, as possible. New Jersey is as far as I would go."

Elliot looked at John as if he had not seen him before. "Did I miss something? When did you start working for the feds? I thought you hated the government and fed folks."

"I do, but you did miss something. I didn't agree with what I got tossed into, but I had no choice. With what I know about that almost cost our lives, I had to be under the protection, no matter how much I kicked and screamed." He gave a small shrug. "At least, what kicking and screaming I could do in the state I was in." He looked over Elliot, noticing that he did look different. "What are you doing now? Don't look like you're doing the emotional wreck of SVU anymore."

"I'm not. I transferred over to robbery. Figured that would help me, right along with helping out my marriage."

"Olivia is all that's left of the former team." Cragon spoke up from where he was sitting, his hands folded together in front of him. "Maria's retired, Fin's working at a drug rehab and Elliot's doing robbery. Let's just say that having you leave, everything fell apart."

"It sure feels like it, Cap." John whispered as he looked down at Maria, who once again fell asleep against him before looking at the out of state detective. "Where's your partner?"

"He's out with Thomas, mostly going over files and possibly looking for a sketch artist so we can get an idea of what the sniper looks like. At least what Scotty said in the call I got a little while ago."

"'Kay. That works for me." He looked down at Maria's sleeping self. "I have waited two years for this to be sorted out and getting my life back. I think I can wait a little longer for this to be solved. Now that Maria knows that I'm still around and I know that she's still safe, physically, I can patiently wait."


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, is was decently quiet for the first time in a few days since John came crawling out of Witness Protection and all involved parties were thankful for the peace. Keeping his promise, John never left Maria's side and only wanted to work with the sketch artist if he was going to be in the hospital room. Over a small breakfast of scrambled eggs and wheat toast, Maria nervously glanced at Thomas if fear that he was going take him away, even after he said that he wouldn't. Sensing the tension that was coming from the woman beside him, John reached a hand over and linked his fingers with her.

"It's going to be alright, Maria." He smiled at her as she turned her head to look at him, her fingers squeezing around his. "The sketch artist is coming in around noon, so we have a few hours to ourselves, just ignore Thomas." He nodded in the direction of the corner of the room. "With these out of state cops working on it, I have full faith in their abilities."

"I hope so, John." Maria whispered as she poked at her eggs. "I don't want to loose you again. I could care less if I get moved from city to city, state to state. If they can't get the person who did this and you have to go back under, I'm coming with and I don't give a _shit_ if they say I can't."

John smiled as his eyes traveled down to her neck and noticed the silver chain that she wore. He could feel his heart warming at knowing she had worn it all this time. "Have I told you yet that I love you?" He whispered as he stood and kissed her temple.

------------------

Lilly and Scotty were stuck. All known snipers that were on fill did not match what was described by John and they were going to have wait until the sketch artist showed up with the drawing.

"We're stuck." Lilly admitted as she sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. "I hope that the artist as more luck then we are here."

"I'm waiting to hear from Thomas, the Marshal, when the artist shows up." Scotty said as his phone started ringing. Opening it, he listened intently to the person on the other side.

Lilly watched as he nodded in agreement as she sat straighter and closed the file in front of her that didn't have the right information.

"That was Philly. They have a lead with the gun that was used." Scotty spoke up, startling Lilly as she started on a new folder. "He says that an informant bought a gun from a person who sells stolen weapons when numbers scratched off here in New York. They called up to the department that confiscated illegally sold weapons and the man they mentioned was Warren Michaels."

"Why does that name sound so familiar?" Lilly thought out loud as she sat up even straighter. The name sounded so familiar and knew that she must have heard or read it somewhere in the case. Looking on the desk and the files before them, she noticed a file with the same name. "Bingo."

"What'd you find?" Scotty sat down next to her and leaned over to look at the file to look at what she found.

"The name 'Warren Michaels' is in this file and the head detective of that case was..." She looked down the file for the name. "John."

-----------------

"So, what have you been up to?" John asked as he moved the tray away from the bed and sat down next to Maria while glancing at the clock. They had three and half hours left before the sketch artist was due to arrive. That was enough time spend time together and just be in quiet. "What happened to Ace?"

"I'm living in the suburbs now and enjoying the non-city air." Maria gave a small smile as she looked up at him, staring into his now covered eyes due to his tinted glasses. At the mention of Ace her smile disappeared and she let out a pained sigh. "He passed on from old age four months after it happened. He went very peacefully in his sleep. Now, I'm caring for a little rodent by the name of Ronnie."

"Rodent?" He looked over his glasses with a straight face. "Don't tell me you got a rat or a mouse, Mar."

"A guinea pig that I adopted from a rescue. He needed someone and I needed someone." She shrugged as she pulled the hospital blanket closer to herself and draped it over him. It was a little chilly in the air conditioned building after all. "And before you ask, Olivia's watching him. She offered to watch him until I can get out of here and away from needles." She bitterly added to end part as the nurse entered, the unmistakable cap of a needle sticking out of her pocket.

"I know you don't like this, but it has to be done to make sure that you are really healthy enough to be let out of here." She sighed as Maria hid her arms under the covers and her frown grew more dangerous. "Now, stop that. You know that look will not stop me."

As the nurse stopped beside her bed, she stared in the glaring eyes and didn't stop staring until she produced her arm. With a huff, Maria pulled her arm out and held it out for the nurse. "This really hurts you know." She mumbled as she started rubbing the spot with the alcohol, preparing it for blood withdrawal.

"Does she have to go through a scar to get to the vain?" John asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and placed his chin on to of her head, keeping her face pressed lightly against his chest.

"Yes and it really hurts, like what happened with Kevin." She hissed as the needle went in and she grasp the front of his shirt with her free hand. John watched as the nurse had to push a little harder to bypass the scar and invaded the vain.

"Is there any other place you can get blood without going through that certain scar?" John quietly asked as he watched the vile fill with the dark red liquid and listening to Maria moaning in protest.

"We've tried, but we can't get a big enough vain and I hate causing her pain, but there's nothing I can do to." She replied quietly as she removed the vile, slipped the needle out and covered it with a piece of gauze. Reaching a hand out, she squeezed her shoulder in apology. "I'm sorry."

Once she left, John pulled back a little to look into Maria's face, seeing a few tears travel down her face. "Oh, Maria. I hate seeing you cry like this." He whispered as he gently removed the tears from her cheeks before pulling her into a hug. "I wish I could stop this pain for you. I really wish I could." Hearing a mumble coming from his chest, John lifted her chin to look at her face again, wanting to know what she said. "What did you say?"

"I think my own bed is big enough for that business."

Chuckling, John pulled her back into the hug and glad to know she still had some oomph in her. "Be patient, dear. By the way, what ever happened to my belongings?"

"Your furniture is in my basement, books are on my shelf and knick knacks are boxed up in a spare room."

"I knew you would do that." He smiled as she laughed herself, still not believing that he was really alive. "What are you going to do with them now that I'm back?"

"Can always move furniture into the spare room, which is also my office." She mumbled as she hide her face back into his chest."Or we could move into a bigger house."

"No, I'm very positive that we can be together in that one house." He whispered as he closed his eyes and held her closer. "Like I said, I'm not going any where."

-----------------

"Well, that would make sense that he could be the primary of the case and how he got a hold of that 'dangerous' information." Scotty commented as he looked over the case. "Maybe we should confront this Warren Michaels about this. It says here that they did arrest him a few moments after the shooting."

"That would be a good idea and we should drop the sketch from the artist into his lap and see what he says about that." Lilly added as she heard a knock at the door. Being placed into the federal building to look over the cases seemed like a good place to stick them in case someone outside the case got whiff of what they were doing. Last thing they needed was a true murder on their hands. "Enter."

Huang stuck his head in, a small smile on his face. "Got word from the sketch artist. Sorry for not calling, but since I was closer I'd like to see if you want to comes instead. We're heading to the hospital now and expecting to be there for a few hours at least. Afterward, we can go for some late lunch?"

Grabbing the Michaels folder, Scotty closed it and and stood up, Lilly close behind. "Sounds good to me."


	11. Chapter 11

"Did you see what type of hair it was? Was it short, long, medium length?" The sketch artist asked as she looked over her sheet of drawing paper, staring at the older man before her as he thought back to the night of the shooting.

John leaned back in his seat and ran his hand through his short hair, letting out a sigh as he thought hard. He knew the facial features very well, but the hair length was a little harder. "Well, I say that it was about," He glanced over at Maria who was watching the two with interest, her normally tired looking eyes were wide with curious wonder as they worked over the drawing. "I would say about an inch shorter then Maria's over there and her's goes to her shoulders."

The sketch artist looked over at her before getting up to check out the hair length to get the right measurements. Maria watched her take a gentle hold on a strand of hair, straightened it out and held her other hand to take a measurement. "Thanks for holding still for me." She smiled at Maria, who watched the person over her glasses, but no sign of distress was visible to anyone in the room. "Now this is going to be the difficult part," She started as she went back to sitting down, "do you remember the eye shape of the person?"

"That's a tough one." He remarked as he crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head to one side. "They were dark, that I do remember but the shape? That may take me a while to remember."

"That's fine. From what you have given me and how detailed they are, I can come back tomorrow if you want to finish it, OK?"

"Yeah, that'll be a good idea. Same time?"

Nodding, the sketch artist packed up her items and left, leaving the small group to wonder in their thoughts of what to do next. Knowing full well that a late lunch was needed, Huang made a quick call to a local Chinese place and left to pick up the food, planning to enter through the back door of the hospital in case. Thomas stood there in the corner of the room with his arms crossed, his expression was relaxed. Maria sat there in the bed, twirling the chain necklace in her fingers and staring into space. Lilly and Scotty, both sitting across the room, seemed to wonder what's next. What they should do now. John, sensing the rising tension in the room, got up from where he was sitting and looked at everyone.

The two out of states had put their own city behind them to help with what had happened and to bring him out of hiding. Maria had never stopped loving him and wore the ring he gave for her birthday around her neck, something that warmed him in the inside. "So," he started, causing them to look at him, "what happens now?"

"We have to wait for the sketch to be finished and we're hoping that we can show Warren Michaels the drawing. We are also planning out what we are going to say to him, to make it seem like someone besides you saw him." Lilly spoke up as Scotty bowed his head again, exhaustion clouding his mind. _Who knew that staring at those files would drive you into the bed_, he thought to himself. "Does that sound like a good plan."

"Considering I was the primary on Warren, I give you an A for effort." John smiled as he sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling Maria lean against him for her own comfort. "Warren is a lying piece of crap that can never come off of the bottom of your shoe, if you know what I mean. He also doesn't like women taking control, so Mr. Valens will have to do the speaking when you see him." He warned them, giving a stern look as he reached behind him to place a hand on Maria. "Be careful with him."

Nodding in agreement, they watched as the door open again and Huang walked in, a few bags of food in his clutches. Handing out the boxes and forks, they settled down in comfortable places to eat in silence. Moving a little to one side, Maria made room for John to be next to her as they fought over the best pieces of Chicken Lo Mein. Lilly couldn't help but watch the two and wonder how well they fit together. A huge smile crossed Maria's face as she snagged a big piece of chicken and quickly popped it into her mouth before John could fight to get it back, an even bigger smile on his face as he objected to the steal. Rush couldn't help but let Maria notice that she was smiling at them, as Maria's eyes shot over to her. "Ms. Rush, you all right?"

Shaking her head, Lilly poked at her food and still smiling. "No, I'm fine. It's...it's just watching you two and seeing you smiling, Maria, I have a good feeling about this." She looked up to see all were watching her now. "We're going to get the guy and I know it."

"Catch Warren off guard and you'll get the bastard." John commented as he placed his container down on the mobile tray and sat back up. "I don't want to go back under protection again. I don't like being away from Maria and all the people I know, the name I have to carry around I would like to toss away." He felt movement behind him to see Maria looping her arm around his and hugged it close. "I knew what was going on once I was told the information of the murdered family."

Lilly quickly noticed that he was speaking more of the case, off of the record. "Continue."

"I knew that I was in danger once George told me of the first threat, threatening to kill my brother and his family. A few days later, they were secretly moved to another living situation. Then, more threats came up and all were about my own life, but they never gave sign that they knew about Maria as no threats went to her." He shifted to pull her into his arms and almost onto his lap. Taking a hold of the blanket, he placed it over her shoulders and tucked it between them to keep it in place. "I didn't care of the threats were about me being killed, I wanted to protect her with my own life and that night, I did once I stood in front of the firing. I saw him, but he was quicker with the trigger and..." He paused. "Next thing I knew, I was in a hospital in Road Island."

"Easy, John. Be careful with how much you let out." Thomas quietly warned from the corner, pointing a finger at the man.

"I know the drill, Thomas." John glanced at him over his glasses, warning him of a temper that had been held down for two years. "You really think I'll let slip of private information so I can get kicked back into that hell? No way." He looked down at Maria, who had fallen asleep in his arms and head against his shoulder. "I'm not risking this freedom only to be taken from her." He looked up at Lilly as he tightened the hold on her. "I wanted to marry her."

Lilly's eyes moved to look at the floor, hearing his last sentence echoed in her ears. "Once we find the guy, are you still going to?"

Nodding his answer, he watched as Huang mentioned late in the afternoon is was and that they had more work to do, even with no drawing yet. With a verbal agreement, they headed out into the windy outside, knowing they had to dig deeper into the files to see if they would be able to find anything. Getting into the car, Huang following close behind to offer a hand, Scotty stuck the key into the ignition and turned it. "I have the same feeling as you, Lilly. If he can remember the eyes and slap the drawing into Warren's face, we can do it."

"I hope that he can." George remarked from the backseat. "The memory is a powerful thing and if he concentrates hard enough, he can remember what's needed."

-------------------

Laying in the darkened room, John held Maria close to him as he deeply thought of that one little detail of the sniper. Those eyes. _What were those eyes? _Without much knowing, John drifted off with the thought still racing through...

_Hearing the popping sounds and people yelling for cover, his mind raced as he suddenly thought of her. Running from the other side of the house, he saw her crouching behind a small lawn bench and her gun out. Quickly joining her, he withdrew his and looked up to see where the sound was coming from, seeing movement in the attic window. Yelling to Cragon about what he saw, he grabbed Maria's upper arm and, without thinking, ran to where there was more cover for them both. _

_The shots soon appeared before them, in the path they were running to and caused them both to stop suddenly. Looking to where the person was, he could clearly see the person was now standing and he could see that face. The smile. Those dark eyes that gave him chills. Forcing her behind him, he took aim and fired at the open window, but it was too late. The person shot first and he was hit. Feeling the shocking pain, he gasped as he went down and hit the ground. With her back turned facing the direction of where the others were, another popping sound went out and he heard a small cry from her as she went down._

_Quickly fading in and out, he tried to focus on what was important to him as he tried to hang on. Maria and their deceased son. His brother and family. His colleagues and his captain. The man's face. The look on his face as he took aim. Those eyes..._

Sitting straight up with a gasp, John took deep breathes to slow down the pace he was going at and fighting the terror that was shooting through him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up to see the dark figure of Thomas standing over him and, looking to his other side, the figure of Maria coming into focus. "John? What's the matter?"

Reaching onto the wall light above them to get some light into the place, John looked over at her with his terror filled eyes. "I remember...the..." He stopped to look at Thomas, who had the expression of concern on his face. The stern looks he had earlier were long gone.

"What was it, John?"

"The eyes. I remember the eyes."


	12. Chapter 12

"Thanks to what John gave us, all main officers are on alert for the sniper." Cragon mentioned to the fellow people in his closed door office. "But, we are not putting out any news until we know for sure that we have the guy." He held up a finger in front of his face, his expression dead serious. "No word to any of those people, understand?"

All nodding in unison, Lilly took her chance to speak up first. "Shall I and Scotty tackle Warren about it? Drop the sketch into his lap and see what he says?" Seeing Olivia shift beside her made her wonder differently. "Or, did you already question him about that?"

Cragon's eyes moved to stare at the last remaining detective under his command. "Was suppose to...?"

"We did and he didn't give shit to us about it." Olivia quietly snapped, knowing where this was going. "But, since we had nothing else on the sniper, he gave us nothing in return and clamped up real quick."

"What's his sentence?" Scotty asked, turning to look at Olivia, who started going through files.

"Ummm...his on death row as he's suspected of being the sniper." Olivia handed the file to Scotty, who looked at it before handing it to Lilly. "If he gives us the sniper, we can give him an offer of 25 to life instead." Olivia's eyes to look at Cragon. "At least I hope we can."

"I'll talk to the ADA and in the meantime, you two can go see Warren and wheedle the facts out of him." He nodded in the direction of the file, where they could see a clear photo of Warren Micheals, his scowl could have made a hard-hearten man cry.

Taking the sketch of the sniper, Lilly folded it and stuck it into her pocket with a determined look on her face. "Let's do it." She looked over at Scotty before looking at what remained of the team. "Let's give John justice and keep them together."

-------------

Sitting in the interview room of Riker's Island, both did not wait long before a husky built man was led in by two officers. Smirking at the two detectives sitting at the table, Warren Michaels took a seat in front of him and placed his feet on the table. "What _now_?"

"What makes you think you're in trouble?" Scotty asked as he folded his fingers in front of him and stared right into Warren's eyes.

"It's all about that cop that got capped, isn't it? That's what it's been for two _years_ since I was arrested. Pry all you want, I'm not saying a word about it."

Scotty, knowing that _that _was going to be said, so he swifted pulled out the drawing and held it out in front of Michaels's face and enjoyed watching his face pale at the sight of the drawing. "Does this refresh your mind?"

"How the Hell did...what do you want?" He stumbled on his words as he pulled his feet off of the table and leaned in close. "How did you get that?!"

"That's for us to know and for you to tell us who this is." Scotty sighed as he placed the drawing on the table, letting it sick in into the man's memory. "Who is this?"

Squinting his eyes, Warren gave them a leering look as if to scare the two, but it didn't work as their frowns became more deadly. "What do I get in return?"

"A chance to get off death row and for cops to leave you alone."

"Ok, that will give me a chance to break in the new boys without...interruption." He hissed out the last of his words.

"Breaking in the new boys?" Scotty cocked an eyebrow at how he said it with a slight grin.

"Yeah, the new punks need to know who's boss in this place. They didn't break me in when I got here, I made them my bitches the first night." Warren crossed his arms over his husky chest, looking proud for what he had said to the detectives. "I hired that man do to a deed for me since I was not going to do it myself."

"What deed was that?"

"To cap a cop from snooping. He was sticking his big nose into business that was not his, as that neighbor did as well. I taught that guy a lesson, but I had someone else deal with that cop." Warren snapped as he stood up and looked out the bar heavy window. "The deed was done, as well as popping that other female cop and scare the shit out of her."

"Why her?"

"To give them an idea that it was a regular shootout and not a kill for hire. Sure worked well." He looked down at them over his nose. "Until now."

"Name. Now." Scotty made his voice firmer then it was earlier, making it known to Warren that he was done playing games with this punk.

"Will Dukens. Are we done now?"

-----------------

"Will Dukens; owning of illegal weapons, breaking and entering, robbery and, get this, shooting weapons in places with high human population." Olivia counted off as they looked over the file of the known man, all glad that he had a record. "Seems like a hit for hire is the next step."

"Sounds like it. What we need to do now is draw him out into the opening." Lilly spoke up from where she was sitting, reaching out to take a hold of the file in Olivia's hand. "Looks like we may have to go undercover, unless we won't be allowed."

"No, that's alright." Cragon nodded his approval. "Having both of you to go under and draw him out will make it easier for us to get him." He tilted his bald head in the direction of Elliot and Fin. "Those two have been given permission to help out to catch the son of a bitch and they are more then willing to do this."

"Both Maria and John stood up for us during difficult times and it's high time we did the same thing for them." Elliot spoke up, drawing the attention to him. "The five of us had worked together through thick and thin, staying up longer then forty-eight hours to solve cases and just supporting each other through those times. When he was gone, that broke us apart emotionally and physically. Let's do it and bring this guy to justice. For us and them."

"That sounds like a plan, but we have to be careful with this. We can't just go out there and pull him out of any gutter he may be living in. What we need to do is find someone who knows who he is, make plans with him to have someone killed and then we can jump him. For now, while Fin checks who he knows about snipers, Lilly should go to the hospital and see how Maria and John are doing. Don't let it slip of what we're doing, but give subtle hints to them and they'll figure it out themselves."

"Think they can figure it out that quick?"

"Olivia snorted as she stopped herself from laughing. "Let's just say that Maria kicked my ass at chess one day within two minutes and, with all the theories that go through their minds, they are so quick, you wouldn't even know it."

Elliot snickered at how Liv said it. "I bet you ten bucks they will figure it out within five minutes of you being there."

"But," Cragon spoke up over the commotion, "we have to remember that this is the guy who tried to kill him and severely injured Maria. Knowing John, he will want in on what we are doing. Due to the fact he is still under witness protection, he can't do that, but he will try to convince you and you must disagree no matter what he says. Even if he insists it's to help Maria and he gives a convincing tale, do not let him. If he comes out into the opening while doing this, there is a high chance he can be killed for sure and we really do not want to do that, now do we?"

Everyone shook their heads no.

"Good, so Lilly and Elliot go to the hospital and Scotty can stay here and we can work out a plan in the room upstairs. We also do not want the Press to find out about this, so no speaking about this in public. Only in secure locations can we talk about this subject. All right, get going."


	13. Chapter 13

"So, how well did you all work together? If that's not too personal." Lilly asked Elliot as they climbed into the black car, Elliot taking the wheel and Lilly taking the front passenger seat.

"Well, we would have our days when we would bite eachother's heads off, but we were one big family. Maria's the oldest of the two women and she acted like an older sister to us, except to John. If we had to stay on the job for over forty-eight hours and we would spend a few hours in the crib, she would make sure that we were alright when she had the time. I often find myself covered with a blanket when I would have to get up and I knew it was her." Elliot stopped speaking as he turned a corner before continue. "We knew that she and John were together and that mostly showed when I or Liv would find them sleeping in the crib or working on chess during breaks."

"What do you mean _sleeping_ in the crib?" Lilly squeaked out, thinking of something that played across her mind.

"Whoa, not what I mean!" Elliot laughed, quickly noticing what Lilly was thinking. "What I mean was that, one time, I found them both sleeping on their sides and John had an arm over her. I had to wake them up before anyone who didn't know about them saw the two laying like that. The one thing they always knew was they should have never been close when the big bosses were around."

"What would have happened if they did find out?"

"They both would have been fired, lost pensions, etc." Elliot pulled up to a light that was red and readjusted his seat belt. "That was something they didn't deserve. John's an amazing person who cares for her deeply, I'm sure you've heard that before from the others."

"Yeah, but I never get tired of hearing about how close they are. I'm also going to guess that they defended each other when others bad mouthed one or the other?"

"Oh yeah! One time, a perp called Maria a bitchy whore and I never saw John move so fast as he did. Let's say we had to wrestle him back when he had put his fingers around his neck. Luckily the guy didn't press charges, but he still had to answer for his actions. Since both are Jewish, they don't like it when words are said about their religion. Once, someone called John a worthless piece of Jewish crap and Fin had to hold her back and her glare made _me_ nervous."

"What are the chances that John will want in on what we're doing?"

"For revenge against what happened to him and Maria, those chances are very high. If he gets too persistent with it, either Maria or I will calm him down. That's why Cragon wanted me to come with." Pulling up to the parking lot at the Hospital, Elliot unclipped his seat belt and looked at Lilly. "That's the main reason why I'm here. But remember, John will not lay a finger on her. He once told me that he would rather hurt eat his own gun then hurt her."

Heading up the familiar floor and walking down the familiar hallway, Lilly knocked at the door before opening it and saw what she did not expect. Maria was standing by the window, a loose t-shirt and sweatpants were hanging off of her frame and John was no where to be seen. "Maria?"

Looking over her shoulder, Maria's expressionless face changed to a smile. "Afternoon, Ms. Rush and Elliot. What brings you here? Any luck with the drawing?"

"Here to see you, silly. Where's John?" Elliot smiled as he removed his coat and draped it over the chair. Lilly did the same.

"Thomas took him back to where he's living for a change of clothes and to pick up a few things. They left early this morning and they should be back shortly." Sighing, Maria sat down in the hospital bed, winding up the clear IV tube that was still connected to her. "I'm due to be released either tomorrow or the day after. Thomas is having John stay at my place for the time being and he needed a few things. When John has five o'clock shadow, I find it very attractive but with him wearing the same clothes for the past few days, that a turn off for me." Smiling to herself at that thought, Maria looked back up at them when her other question came back to her. "Anyway, does this have anything with the drawing?"

"Yes and we are getting closer to the guy, which is another reason why we came over to see you."

"You spoke to Warren, I'm guessing?" She sat back against the raised part of the bed. "And he told you who the person is, right?"

Lilly stared at Maria is surprise at how quick she guessed it. "Scotty and I went to see him and we got it out of him in less then forty-five minutes." She sat down in one of the chairs near the bed. "You got that real quick."

Maria gave half a shrug, as if it was no big deal. "Nothing really surprises me anymore these days, except for John to come back from the dead. So to speak."

A knock was heard at the door, causing the three to turn their heads in the direction. Maria watched with a smile on her face as Thomas and John walked back in, a duffel bag in John's free hand while the other hand carried a large foam cup. "I had Thomas get this for you." He smiled as he handed the cup to Maria before kissing her on top of the head. "I'm sure you're getting tired of hospital water." As Maria started on her joyful consumption of the shake, John turned his attention to Elliot and Lilly, who were watching them. "I'm guessing this a good thing that you're here?"

Elliot nodded as he started speaking. "Yep and as Maria figured out, Warren Michaels gave us the name of the sniper and we're working out a plan to get him."

John's face grew very serious. "I want in."

At the moment he said it, Maria's hand flew out and took a hold of his wrist. "No, you're not. It'll be too dangerous for you and me." He looked to see her staring right at him, her eyes telling him to stay put. "You're suppose to be dead, John. If you get involved and he notices that you're still around, he will take another shot at you. I can't loose you like that."

"Look at what he did to us! I want him to pay for what he had done and I want in on it. I love you too much to just sit still and not take a swing."

Elliot took a chance to calm down the fire before it got out of control. "Easy, John. Do not jump into the water until you're sure it's not too shallow. We all understand why you want in on what we're going to be doing, but it'll be dangerous like Maria said. If something happens to you, what about Maria? You've only been together for a few days now and you want to go out into a dangerous situation? What you can do is stay with her and stay out of danger. You've wanted out of hiding for two years to be with the one person you love, but considering what you want to do, she can loose the one person she loves for good."

"I don't care! I'm going to get the bastard for what he did! I had promised to protect her with my own life and I'm going to do that!"

Elliot kept his voice steady as the older man stared at him, as if to scare Elliot into giving up, but he wasn't. "But what happens if you do loose your life to this? Who would protect her then from him getting to her and doing more harm? Remember her assault back then? What are the chances_ he_ would do it to her?" Elliot stopped his questions as he watched John take a few heavy swallows and his shoulders slacked from the weight of the words.

Letting the words sink in more, John looked down at Maria who was staring up at him with tears clouding her green eyes. That broke his heart in two. Sighing, he sat down on the bed and bowed his head, as Maria got up on her knees and hugged him from the back. "I...I can't believe that I almost..." Thomas, Elliot and Lilly watched as John struggled to say what he wanted to say, but it didn't help when he started to fight tears that were wanting to come. "I...for you and me...I don't know." His hands clamped over Maria's, looking for the comfort he was now seeking. "I'm so sorry, Maria." He whispered as he closed his eyes in shame.

Maria tightened her grip around him as if to protect him and quietly shushed him. "It's ok, John...it's ok." Gently freeing a hand, she reached for the shake he gave her and poked his lips with the straw. "Here, drink this...we can share it together." As he slowly began to work on it, she looked over to the three people who were watching them. "Mind giving us a little private time to talk?"

Nodding in understanding and agreement, the three walked outside the room with Thomas taking a stand right across the hall to watch for people traveling back and forth.

Once she was sure they were gone, she moved to sit next to him and watched as he chewed on the straw end with his teeth. "I'm so sorry I said that. I...oh, God. I'm an inconsiderate bastard to just want to jump into a danger zone. I don't deserve to come out of hiding to risk my own life after only seeing you again for the past few days." He turned his head to look at her before looking away to hide the fact he was close to loosing his own pride as tears were threatening to fall again.

Taking the shake container from his slack fingers, Maria turned his head around to look at her and pressed her lips to his. Slightly stunned at first, John didn't know to react until he could feel his arms move to encircle her in his arms and hold her close to his own body. Once that had happened, Maria moved to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss continued to get deeper and John's tongue danced with hers.

Feeling another pressing urge was starting to rise between them, John slowly pulled back to look in her face, but the tinted glasses were not hiding the fact that he was indeed crying. Seeing his chin trembling, Maria reached up and carefully removed his glasses and watched as the tears started to really flow. "I'm so sorry, baby." His voice trembled as he spoke, failing to stop it.

Using her thumbs to wipe the tears from his face, Maria shushed him once again. "It's alright, John. You don't need to keep apologizing to me about what you said and almost did. You how forgiving I am for silly things and what we just did showed you that I already forgave you." She whispered as she took a tissue from the box and wiped more tears from his eyes as he sniffled a little, his hands on her hips. "All is forgiven and not a word of this will be mentioned outside of this room. What is said in this room stays in this room, understand?"

"I understand." He whispered as he pulled her into a tight hug, hiding his face in her neck and grateful that he had this woman in his life. "I understand."

---------------------

"The main part is to make sure that you both are in a safe location before we can go to the first phase of the plan." Elliot announced as he paced the hospital room, keeping his voice low as no one else but them was to hear of what was to happen. "First off, when you," He pointed to Maria, "are released from the hospital, go right home. Thomas, you will be bring John to her place around midnight that night and stay away from the windows. We don't want to risk anything or anyone knowing that you're back." Elliot stopped his pacing and pointed a finger at John who was had his head rested in Maria's lap, having mellowed down since he broke up earlier. He followed Elliot with his eyes, but never moved from where he was, not wanting to move at all from where he was comfortable. "Maria, what would be the safest place for John to be in your house?"

"That would be the finished attic. It's basically a spare room with bed already provided and the windows are small with dark shades. To me, that would be the safest place for him to be in my house." Maria replied quietly as she ran her hand up and down John's back, a way to relax and reassure him more. "And no worries with lights being on in the attic as that's also where my office is and it's not abnormal for lights to be on up there late at night." Moving her other arm to rub between his shoulder blades, she added, " I'm due to be released tomorrow around five in the evening."

"Good, that'll give us enough time to get some things ready and to let the other Marshals know of what's happening." Thomas spoke up from his tiny corner of the room, where he had been sitting and standing for the past few days. "We are going to need the same escort we had coming here, even if it is at night. Do you have a back door that we can sneak into?"

Maria nodded as she took a quick sip from the slowly warming shake before lowering it down for John to take a sip from the same straw. "Yeah, I do. It's normally locked at night, but I'll have it unlocked so you can get in quietly."

"I hope your attic's warm. It's been getting colder at night you know." John mumbled from Maria's lap, causing everyone to look at him. He hadn't said a word since they walked back into the room a mere hour ago.

Smiling down at him, Maria bent down to his ear for him to only hear, "You won't be the only one up there anyway if it is." That sent shivers down his spine for sure and she knew it. "Now, Elliot, you can continue."

"Not much more that I can say to you three," he nodded to Thomas as well, "but, Cragon has continued to let me know about the upcoming plan with he, Fin and Mr. Valens work out the kinks and we, including Olivia, will work on the other kinks. It sounds complicated, I know, but it'll make sense once we get underway. I promise."

The moment he said that, John made a tighter grip on Maria's clothing while she gripped his shoulder in return. "We understand."

**Oh, Lordy. This is going to be weird and, as Elliot says, it sounds complicated but it'll make sense later on. Does it help that this is coming to mind at two in the morning? **


	14. Chapter 14

With shuffling feet, Maria paced around her living room while Lilly peeked through the closed shades to keep eyes out for the unmarked U.S. Marshal vehicle. Sighing, she glanced at the clock to see that it said 11:56 P.M. before looking back to the darkness outside. The sound of a car pulling up into her driveway caused both women to look out the same window, watching as four figures came out of the vehicle. Moving quickly to the back door, Maria held it open for the four men as they came in, removing rain wear due to the rainstorm outside. "I hope you had no trouble finding the place?"

"With how John's able to read your directions and understand that handwriting of yours, no problem." Thomas snickered as he placed a bag on the floor before removing his coat. "Anyway, I'll be staying as well to make sure nothing wrong happens, if you don't mind."

"Nope," was all she said before wrapping her arms around John's neck, happy that he was 'home'. "How you doing, John." He pulled back, giving her a tired smile, which was all she needed to know without him saying anything. Turning to look at Lilly, she was wondering what that woman was going to do now. "Are you going to go back to the hotel, Ms. Rush?"

"Yep and from there, I'm going to call my captain and tell him what we're going to be doing, go over the plan with the others tomorrow morning and, hopefully, we'll have him in a few days." She nodded as she pulled on her jacket. "I'm not fully sure of what plans they'll have for us tomorrow, but I'm sure that you'll get that news as well. At least, I hope."

"Knowing Cragon, he will want us in on what's happening, even of we are not in the plan to get him." Maria said as she watched John look around her place, having never seen it. "For now, I should take the wondering six foot wonder to bed before anything else happens tonight."

With a nod, Rush took her leave into the night, followed by two of the Marshals who took the unmarked car, leaving the three to themselves. As Thomas made himself comfortable on the couch, Maria led the lead to the finished attic to the spare bedroom. As Maria pulled two comforters from the closet, John unpacked the duffel bag into the empty drawer and sat down on the bed. "Thank God I don't have to stay in the crappy hotels this time." He thought out loud to himself as Maria joined him, her hand grasping his knee. "I'm just happy that I'm here with you." He turned to look at her, taking her hand in his. "Least I don't have to worry about someone walking in on me kissing you this time."

"Not even here for five minutes and you're already trying to move on me. Craving it that much?" Maria snickered as she leaned forward, getting closer to his face but not close enough to satisfy him. "Let's not go that far, hun."

"It's been two years and all I wanted was you, to love and hug you. Just you and me, please." He whispered as he cupped the side of her face, running his thumb over her cheek before kissing the side of her mouth.

Sighing, Maria pulled back to look into his eyes. "Ok, I have no protection with me and highly doubt you have any with you, right?" He slowly nodded. "Remember what we did after I got out of the hospital and was staying with you? After my assault?" He nodded again. "Let's do that instead to get both of us to relax and try to get some rest for the night."

Smiling, John pushed her down gently onto her back and played with the buttons on the front of her shirt. Giggling when his fingers skimmed over a ticklish spot on her stomach, Maria pulled him down on top of her and not letting him object to being pulled down so hard on top of her. Back before they were split apart, he would often flinch if he threw himself too rough on her during extreme intimate times and that was still in the front of his mind. Last time, he kneed her in a spot that really made her flinch and threw her joy out of whack, but this time it didn't stop her.

"I love you so much, Maria," was all that he was able to speak out before softly kissing her, asking permission to enter and tickle the top of her mouth. Letting out a relaxed sigh for this contact, John had a great feeling that everything was going to be all right.

-----------------------

"Hey, love birds. Time to get up and smell the scent of gunpowder in the morning!" Thomas's voice rang through the dreamless sleep that both experienced through the night, after a brief enjoyable night together. "C'mon. Everyone else is going to be here in an hour."

"What time is it, Tom?" John mumbled in a half sleep tone, fully relaxed laying across Maria's front and arm draped lazily over her.

"It's almost six in the morning and we have a full day ahead." A lamp flashed on and could be clearly seen through closed eyelids. With double the groans, John pulled the comforter over their heads, blocking out the light and drowning out Thomas's voice. "Let's go, love birds. I have coffee making and tea warming up. If wanting a cup, you gotta get your asses out of bed."

"Were you a drill sergeant in another life?" Maria questioned as she moved a part of the comforter away to peer out at the lingering man before them. "Or were you bullied too much in school?"

"Neither, now move it." He smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest, turned on his heel and headed out of the room.

"He's a nice guy, once you look past the drill part of him." John mumbled as he peeked from under the comforter to look at her, locking his lips to her jaw line. "Took me forever to find the nice guy under the suit."

Sitting up and rearranging her shirt to not seen too revealing, she worked to fix her hair before reaching down the flatten the hairs that were sticking up on his head. "Did I tell you yet that I love you this morning?"

"You just did," he smiled as he sat up and stretched out his back, "Been a while since I've done that. I usually end up hugging my pillow during the night, thinking it was you." He said as he moved to edge of the bed, in attempted to get up. "Hope you don't mind that Tom went through your cupboards to look for coffee and tea."

Shrugging, Maria stood and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and tossed him in slacks before sitting back down next to him. "I have nothing to hide anymore. I gave up trying to hide things, even looking miserable in public after it happened. I didn't care if people saw my scars or stared," She turned her head to look at him, "I gave up." Sighing, she reached on the side table to find her glasses and handed his over. "If that gun had not turned up, I would have never seen you again."

Shaking his head, John wrapped am arm around her back and held her close. "I would have not let it continue like that. I would have found a way to see you, even if I broke all the rules in the book. You're far more important to me then having my ass protected by ol' Tom boy there." He stopped to the kiss her forehead before speaking again. "Think we have a chance to sneak past him and take a shower together?"

Smiling, Maria's eyebrows waggled gleefully. "I know that none of the floors creak, to make things easier."

-------------

After a sneak to the shower together, both indulged on the coffee or tea that Thomas had made while waiting for the others to arrive. Out of sheer boredom, John proceeded to circle the guinea pig cage with curiosity, chuckling every time the creature would stick its head out of his house to look at the crazy man hovering over it before retrieving back inside. "You know, I never figured you to take in one of these creatures, Mar. You always seemed like a dog person to me."

Maria poked her head out of her kitchen to see him sticking his fingers between the bars for it to sniff while he drank his tea. "Ronnie's a good boy, when he wants to be. Here," she tossed his a sliced piece of apple, "stick that through the bars and he'll take it from your fingers." John carefully stuck the apple through the bars, watched as Ronnie stuck his nose out of his house and followed the scent before gleefully taking large pieces to eat. "See? Easy as pie."

"Ok, I guess I can get used to him." He laughed as a loud knock was heard at the door, announcing that the others had arrived. John watched from the entrance of the kitchen as Maria opened the door to allow Cragen, Elliot, Olivia, Huang, Fin, Rush and Valens in. Thus making it a full house. Taking seats in the living room, folders were spread out over the coffee table and shades were drawn. "So what's the plan then, Cap?" John was the first to ask before anyone could even take a breather.

"The plan is already under foot. We have a phone number that was given to us from an informant that Fin knows. The phone number goes to the cell phone that belongs to the sniper and we've been going back and forth with calls, trying to set up a time to meet him. What we really need is a photo of a woman that will be the 'target' for him, to make it seem like this is real." He looked at everyone sitting around, listening to him carefully. "We can't use a photo of Maria, as he's seen you and not Benson as he's seen you as well. What about you, Rush?"

"Me? To be the so called target?"

"He may just remember what we all look like, so we need a fresh face. Which is why Valens is doing the talking and Rush is going to the face in the photograph." Cragen explained, much to the blank stares he was getting from them. When they didn't reply, he felt like clearing the air. "It's all that we can do. We were all there when the shooting happened and, since he had a scope, he could see what we look like. We can't take the chance that he may recognize us."

Letting out a strained sigh, Valens looked at his partner before looking back at Cragen. "Well, we did offer to help with this case, but never thought that we would go this deep in." Shrugging, he continued. "Oh, well. If it's what we have to do, then it's what we have to do."

"Good, now for you two," he looked over at Maria and John, "we have found a way to have you listen in on the stake out without putting you two in danger."

"What? Do I have to go Big Brother on you all?" John mussed as he leaned back, his long arms crossed over his chest.

"No, consider it to be listening, not watching." Cragen commented on as he reached into a bag beside him and pulled out a police radio. "It's already set on the station that we will be speaking on and all you have to do is listen in and you'll hear when we speak to each other." He placed on the coffee table in front of them and smiled as the two shared a glance, smiles breaking through their straight faces. "See? Knew you'd like this. All we need in a photo of Ms. Rush that we can use."

"I have a Polaroid camera downstairs that we can use to get the photo, if you want?" Maria suggested as she picked up the radio, checking it over in curiosity before putting it back down carefully. Seeing her former captain nodding in agreement, she got up and headed to the basement door, knowing that she was being followed by John. Opening the door and flipping on the light, they headed down the steep stairs and turned left to a stack of boxes. "I know it's in one of these boxes here."

"Where would my belongings be located?" He asked as he looked around, seeing that the finished basement had many unopened boxes of memories she was trying to keep packed from the past two years.

Turning around, she walked to the other direction and opened another door. Turning on the light, she stepped aside as he walked in and saw all of his own possessions that he couldn't bring with him. His couch, mattress, drawer set, tables, books and shelves were all there. Placing his hand on a box labeled "conspiracy books", he smiled as he opened the box and pulled out one book. It was the book she had given his years ago when she was leaving Baltimore for Boston, The Mysteries of Amelia Earhart had a good layer of dust on it even having been in a box. Reaching back into the box, he pulled out a thick JFK book with a worn out cover and spine from constant reading. "Thank you so much, baby, for keeping these for me. When I was moved, I didn't know what would happen to all my belongings, the books and my little knick knacks. But, I had a good feeling that you would take care of it."

"There was no way I was going to let them sell your belonging or what ever they do." She remarked as she heaved one box on top of another one, and pried another box open. "I was not going to take that chance at all," she mumbled as she half disappeared in the box, rummaging around for the camera, "and I know that it's here."

Placing the books back in place, he placed a hand on her shoulder to carefully move her aside as he could reach in better. "Does it look like any other Polaroid camera out there? Or is it a high tech one that can give me a headache in five seconds by just looking at it?"

"You think I'd get something that high tech? I never follow directions and, when I do read them, I still get confused either way. It's one of the regular ones, that big ass clunky ones."

"Like this one?" He asked as he pulled up a strap with a camera attached, causing her to squeal with happiness and wrap her arms around him. Laughing, he handed it to her as they headed back up the stairs. "Is that all I get for finding the buried treasure?"

"Hardly," was all she said as they both headed to the living room where the others were still sitting, deep in talk of the upcoming plan. They pulled apart once they entered in, trying hard to make it look like they were doing nothing, but the two knew. Passing a glance to each other, she handed the camera to Cragen, who looked it over before asking to take it with.

With a nod and smile, Maria held the door open for them before heading back down into the basement to look for lost memories.

------------------

Heading out into the chill after the rain, Cragen climbed into the driver's seat with Valens and Rush close behind. Starting up the car and pulling out of the driveway, Cragen let out a sigh of relief. "It makes me feel so much better, knowing that they're together. Haven't seen her smile like that in a long time and, thanks to her as well, we are one step closer to get the son of a bitch."

In the car traveling behind them, Olivia, Elliot and Fin were thinking the same thing. "It would be nice if we were all working together again. Even though we sometimes argued when stuck in three days or longer cases, we all stuck together, right?" Olivia asked out loud as she looked in the review mirror at Fin before glancing sideways at Elliot, both who sported straight faces. "We'll get him, guys, stop sulking."

"I'm not sulking, Liv," Fin piped up from the back, arms crossed, "I don't sulk, I scold."

"I'm just thinking over here," Elliot added, his eyes staring to the outside world, "Can you imagine that happening to you? Being in Witness Protection for two years, without your loved one with you?"

"Never. It seems too painful for me to even think about." Olivia said as she pulled to a stop, outside the station house. "I bet they have a lot of catching up to do now."

"And John's libido is going haywire." Fin replied as he shook his head, the thought slipping through his own mind, "Why am I thinking of that!?"

Laughing at Fin's comment, they headed in and gathered in Cragen's office, knowing that phase two of the plan was underfoot. Having arrived first, Cragen had informed Lilly and Scotty of what was expected since the target was an armed man and very dangerous. "What really needs to taken care of first is to be sure that the new vests are able to hold up with this stakeout."

"New vests? Was there a default with the other vests?" Scotty asked, wondering if it was common ignorance for a faulty vest to slip through.

"No, we were properly protected that evening it happened, but the bastard had used talon bullets and they went right through their vests like paper. These new vests are able to withstand those bullets and have been tested countless times. We have to make sure that we are wearing those and not the other types." Cragen replied, his firm expression sinking in on them. "I don't want to loose anyone else to this madness and I really don't want to call up your captain to tell him that you were injuried or worse in the line of duty. I don't want to give that phone call out."

"Understood. What about weapons?"

"Keep all firearms concelled from view until told other wise. There will be backup available, but one small slip up will make one difference. Now, here is what we are going to do next."


	15. Chapter 15

"I know it's here because I'm the only one who packed your apartment." Maria said as she picked up a box and dropped it heavily to the carpet floor from the weight, dust flying into the air. "Not one else wanted to do that, considering they didn't know you as well as I did. Not even your brother wanted to do it because he was busy."

"Wonder if that was an excuse to not see my place and remember his older brother who was the only one who gave him work." John thought out loud as he opened another box and dug his long arm in, feeling around for the targeted item. "You did so well packing my stuff that if hard to just find this one item." He pulled out a bubbled wrapped item, one of his statues that really didn't need protection. "Did...did you bubble wrap my _clothes_ as well?"

Looking up from sorting the boxes and containers out, Maria looked up with a sad and blank look on her face. "I didn't want to take the chance of anything being damaged. It..." She stumbled on her words, struggling to speak. Bowing her head ans slowly shaking it, she tried again. "It took me a lot of guts to even enter your place after it happened, you know. Took me three months to do it without crying."

Sighing at how blunt he said his remark and realizing that it disturbed her, he stood and joined her on the floor. Thinking how to properly word his next reply without seeming defensive or cynical, he linked his fingers with her's and gave a squeeze. "I'm...so sorry that I said that. You know how I am. I didn't mean to upset you like that, I really didn't. It's all of this crap that I've been dragged through with you not by my side. I was moved three times for the past two years, I tried a few times to contact you but I got a slap on the hand for doing that and scolded, and I was scared of what was going to happen to me and to you." He reached out and took a hold of her chin to turn her face to look at him. "I'm still scared of what's going to happen."

Taking a hold of his hand that had her chin and ran a finger up and down his, she forced a small smile. "You never say that you're scared to anyone, except me. You know that?"

"It's because I trust you. You know how many times I tried to open up to my exes? They were never concerned when I was scared or nervous about anything. Only where the checkbook was and my bank number."

"Well, I'm not one of your exes and I have my own money to play with." She smiled and squeezed his hand that was in her grasp, while he kissed her cheek. "Ok, so remind me; what is this thing we are looking for? A box of some kind?"

Releasing her hands, he moved up onto his knees and poked through the box in front of them. "It's a black square box with a white round tab thing keeping it closed." He stopped his searching and look over at her, the tinted glasses covering the nervousness in his eyes. There was something about that box he didn't want her to know about yet. "_Unless_ you opened it and the tab is damaged."

"I didn't open anything that was yours, dear. I have high respect for people's belongings, even if it someone that I love very much, "she gave a soft look, "and have done it in _almost_ every room." She added, her face blushing slightly.

Moving forward, John was inches from her face and their eyes locking together. "I love it when you blush, babe." He whispered as he gave her a gentle kiss to the lips before opening another box. "And, I'm saying that was my own tease to you. Since we can't go anywhere for a while, just tempting kissing for now."

Crossing her legs under her, Maria removed her glasses to clean before replacing them back on. "That's evil and I don't say that often." She watched as he rummaged around more, items knocking together inside the box told her he was searching real deep into it. "What's in this box that's so important?"

Not stopping, his muffled voice rang out clearly, "it's a secret until I feel it's right to show you," before the echoes off of the wall drowned out his voice.

"You know what it looks like, better then I do, so-"

"Found it!"

Getting up on her knees and joining him, she watched as he pulled it out and placed it in the palm of his hand. The black box sported no damage from being packed for two years and looked good as new as it sat perfectly in his palm. "I thought we never kept secrets from each other. Wasn't that a silent promise to each other?" She questioned as she picked it up and carefully looked it over. It had a nice weight to it and she feared flipping it upside down, in case of it being fragile.

"We don't, but this little box is very important to me and I want to wait and show you. Think of it as a long needed present from me to you." He answered, watching her carefully for signs of understanding his hints. When she gave a quizzical look, he knew that he had stumped her and smiled. "Just wait and see."

-------------------

Cragen stood in the entrance of his office before looking back at Valens, who was debating on what to say when speaking to Dukens. "Who knew this could be difficult to do."

"Offering up your partner as the bait is never easy, believe me. Once you feel that you can do it, pick up the phone and just do it. If one of us does it, he may think it's a trick when meeting you in public with a much different voice."

"That would cause the plan to back fire, big time." Valens sighed as he picked the the phone and slowly dialed the number. "Here goes nothing."

Nodding, Cragen closed the door behind him to block out the sounds as Rush worked with Olivia and Fin on the location. "Alright, so since we are planning on meeting here, we should have back up here," she pointed to a building with a flat roof, "and here. Give us a better chance to see and have a better wide range."

"And if he's packing and becomes dangerous, shoot to wound. We need a confession from him and he'll give it even if I have to beat it out of him." Fin added, feeling the bitterness growing in him, "make him pay, big time."

"Seems like a great idea and, with all the back up available, doesn't really look like we over looked anything. Also, walkies are going to have to be on at all times and constant communication. Can't let him slip through the cracks this time." Olivia reminded, looking at them firmly in the eyes, "If he slips through and escapes, he can and possible will leave the city, possibly the state."

"That would be bad." Lilly sighed as she looked over the map location, "I would hate going back to Philly with the case not closed and having to punt John back into Witness Protection. I had promised Maria that I would make this better for her."

"Guys, we have a plan!" Cragen's voice rang through the room, bringing it to complete silence, "We have a plan set out to meet him in two days and he agreed with the location Valens had requested. We need someone to tell the two, but have to not tell where. Even though Maria was able to calm John down the first time we mentioned this, but mentioning it to them may cause him to start up again. So, who feels like bringing them some dinner and bribe him to behave with fries. It's late at night so It'll be easier to not be seen well at night, just in case."

Olivia looked over a Rush, waving her to follow with. "Cragen's gonna have to prep Valens when meeting him in two days, and the rest are going to be busy working with sorting out back up. I know where the closest fast food place is and I know that they are still up, even though it is close to midnight."

Grabbing a few meals from the only 24 hour burger shop, Olivia headed out to the suburb houses and slowly pulled into the driveway of the targeted house. Knocking on the back door, Thomas was the first to greet them as he opened the door and welcomed them in, eying the bags in their hands. "Late dinner, I see. Got something for me?"

Rush handed the Marshal a medium cup of coffee and peeked around the corner to see Maria and John watching a movie in the dark. "Hey, I heard watching anything in the dark was bad, you know." She mentioned as she dangled the bag in front of their faces, watching as an eager hand reached out and missed grabbing it out of her hands. "But, you," she looked over at John, "have to behave yourself and not get overly protective with what we are going to say about the case, got it?"

Narrowing his eyes at her warning, John gave a single nod and greedily took the bag and looked in. "Got any drinks to go with this?"

"Olivia is bringing them in." She said as she sat down in the seat next to the couch, watching as they playfully fought over fries. John, dressed in his black scrubs, was holding two fries high above Maria, who was dressed in a plain black t-shirt and, to her amusement, Betty Boop pajama pants. "So, Maria, didn't know that you like Betty Boop."

Successfully yanking John's arm down and biting the fries from his fingers, she swallowed first before speaking. "John loves them, and when I found them in the basement, I heard a whistle."She turned a light shade of pink upon seeing Rush's expression, wishing she really had not said that. "Ok, well...I should have held my tongue that time." She muttered as she reached inside of the bag and pulled out the burgers, handing one to John.

Feeling like settling in more, Rush waved it off as she swirled the soda in her cup. "Don't worry about it. We're human beings and crave that type of contact, but this is not why we're here. We have set a location and time to meet the suspect in your case."

John looked up from his poking of the burger wrapper to looking at the blond haired detective. "When? where?"

"We're not allowed to say that to you, Munch." Olivia replied as she sat down in a free seat, handing the cup tray to Maria. "Remember what she said, you have to behave yourself." She took a small bite from her burger before continuing, "Although, I feel weird out of place telling a man in his fifties to keep calm and behave."

"Like trying to keep Elliot from loosing his temper back then, huh?" Letting out a sigh to relieve the stress that was building up, he looked over at Maria who had a pleading look for him to stay calm before looking over at Olivia, who was watching carefully. "Ok, but let me just ask one thing?"

"Sure! Just keep it civil." She warned, holding up a finger that spoke the same tone that her voice was at.

"How dangerous is this man suppose to be? Robbery/murderer or highly dangerous that back up has to be available at all time?"

"He has a record at being highly dangerous and extra precautions with back up on rooftops and watching for any signs that are out of the ordinary. At this rate, you two should be just fine if you stay here and listen to what's happen on the radio Cragen gave you." Olivia reassured him as he watched her over his tinted glasses, slowly chewing him burger that was in his long fingers. "It's all taken care of. Cragen and I have been doing well on our own, and my new partner has been well trained."

Standing to place a leg under his body, John carefully sat down and slowly nodded his understanding, they continued their dinner in silent and only to be disturbed by a squealing rodent. Rush and Olivia jumped at the sound of Ronnie making himself be known by his loud screaming for food or attention. "What's his problem?" Rush asked over the squealing and almost tempted to put her hands over her ears.

Maria reached into the bag and pulled out leftover lettuce that was untouched by the beef and stuck them through the bars, watching the greedy little creature inhale the greens. "He knows that there were goodies around and he wasn't getting a part of it. He'll quiet down real fast once he knows that he is getting some of it as well." She reached through the bars and scratched the tip of his round nose, watching the leaves disappear into his tiny mouth. "He's a cool little dude."

"Can you bring him out? I didn't get a good look to see what he really looks like when I first saw him." Lilly asked as she placed her trash into the bin right inside the kitchen, catching a glance of Thomas reading the newspaper against the counter. He was doing his best to give everyone their space while listening to any unknown sounds.

Undoing the latch in the front, she reached in and scooped him up before he had a chance to run back into his little house, his tiny front paws curling once they realized that they were no longer touching ground. Ronnie gave off the idea that he was all white, but there were some brown markings on his legs, left side and belly that could be clearly seen as she held him up better for her and Olivia to see. Olivia leaned forward to scratch his belly with her index finger, listening to him coo at the contact. "He's really cute. How old is he now?"

"Around two, maybe close to three. I had gone to the local shelter last year, looking at the available dogs there and I saw him. He had a rough start in life and I wanted to give him a second chance at life, give him the love he needs and to keep me company." She held him up for her to look at him face on, checking him over. "He's a good boy," she smiled as she placed him back in and glanced at the clock. Quarter to one in the morning, thus explained why she was feeling drained. "Well, thanks for dinner and the company, but I guess you better head out?" Before Thomas kicks you out. Don't know if he will, but it seems like he can."

"Getting close to!" Came a voice from the kitchen, which sounded tired and sore from standing by the counter. Seeing as it was their sign to leave, Rush and Olivia headed out with a reassuring comment to sit tight and everything will be taken care of. Walking around the house to shut off the lights, Maria noticed that John was still sitting on the couch, his features showed he was deep in thought.

Standing in front of him, she waited a few moments before seeing the eyes move to look up at her and trying to hide his frown with a smile. "What?"

"I know a fake smile when I see one. What's the matter?" She sighed as she leaned down in front him, hand on his knee.

"Nothing, just thinking about this and what's going to happen." He sat up straighter and stared at her. "I'm not doubting what they are saying and what they are going to do. It's just, what's going to happen to us when this is over? Do they tell the suspect that 'hey, he's alive jerk off. You missed!'? If they do tell him I'm alive, do we move somewhere else or if they don't tell him, should we do that anyway? I don't know what's going to happen."

"When that comes, we'll do it together. If we have to move out of state, so be it. I know a family that would buy this place in a heartbeat and will pay whatever I see is the right price. But, like I said, let's deal with that when we get there and I highly doubt they will tell him that you are. I know that we all butted heads together one way or another, but they won't hang you out to dry." Standing up, she took a hold of his hand and gave a light tug. "C'mon. Let's go to bed and get some rest." When he didn't move, she sighed and leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "If you don't move your goofy ass soon, I'll leave you down here and I'll go upstairs and sleep in my all natural state."

She felt the hand, that she was holding, twitch at her comment and his breathing hitch. "That's just not nice, Maria Dean Frank, not nice at all. You know we can't _do_ it."

"I know, but that doesn't stop us from sleeping in the nude." She hissed in his ear, "Keep _it_ calm and it's possible, John."

John took off upstairs, leaving her behind to shut off the last of the lights, saying good night to Thomas, and followed the sounds of chuckling up the stairs.


	16. Chapter 16

Two days later

Maria stood in the kitchen, slowly mixing her creamer and sugar in her coffee, staring into space. Next to her was the cordless phone, waiting for it to ring and hearing that call. Sitting at the table, John was staring into as much space as she was, barely touching his coffee as well. The silence was overwhelming for Thomas, so he was outside, talking to his phone over his cell.

Sighing at the tension from the silence, Maria placed the spoon in her sink and sat down at the table with a light thud, bringing the phone with her. "I can't take waiting to know what's going to happen and when. It's not in my blood the wait like this." She muttered as she rested her chin on the table, staring at John, who's eyes had moved to look at her rather then staring at the wall. "I'm patient, but not this patient."

"Did Cragen say when he would call?" John made the first movement since they got up, shifting in his seat and took the first sip from his coffee. "He knows how you hate waiting like this, right?"

"Yep, he does and no he didn't." She took a long sip from her mug, the heat from it not bothering her in the least. "No clue what to to pass the time. Kitchen doesn't need to be cleaned, Ronnie's cage is in no need for a change and he had his needed bath, dishes are done, laundry done, and vacuuming is not needed. Wanna watch a movie?"

"What do you have? Anything new that I have not seen?" He chuckled, knowing that they had watched the majority of her movies that she had in stock.

"Ever seen V for Vendetta? It's been out for a while now, but I saw it on the television one day and had to get it. It's pretty good for my tastes."

"What's in it?"

"All that you like; Political Criminals, secret identities, interrogations, propaganda, wiretapping-"

"Done deal! Pop it in." He said as he got up from his seat, grabbed his mug and stepped into the living room, looking for where she had her DVDs located. Giving up on trying to find it himself, he turned to see Maria placing her mug on the side table, hands in her pockets. "Ok, I give up. Where do you keep the DVDs?"

Smiling, she bent down at the side of the small table and opened the door to it, revealing her secret stash of political type movies. "It should be in the front, hun." She said as he bent down to look for it among a few of his own favorites, before grabbing for it in between Casablanca and Gangs of New York.

Standing, he took a glance at the back before looking up to smile at her. "You had me at wiretapping." He whispered as she took it from his fingers and opened it, popping the disc out and into the player. "I can't believe you still have that crazy movie, Gangs of New York? Have I not taught you _anything_?" He grinned as he sat down, watching her.

"I knew I would and I love that movie, no matter how odd it is." She said in a singsong voice, before plopping down beside him on the couch and hearing shuffling of feet of Thomas taking a seat at the dining table to watch the movie.

---------------------

"Ok, so do we have everything we need?" Cragen asked as he stood before the temporary team, watching as they pulled on vests and checking their Glocks, getting ready. "Backup is going to be available, nearby roofs are going to be occupied and radio contact at all times. Make sure that your mick is on before he comes, Valens." He said, looking over at the dark haired man, who was looking a little nervous at the idea of him being the one to face the suspect. "You look like you're going to be sick, Valens." Cragen smiled as he patted the man on his back, "It's going to be fine. There are abandoned vehicles that are easy access for us and some back up to hide in and behind."

"What are about the two that are trusting us into this insane plan?" Valens asked as he straightened his mick, making sure it was well hidden in his suit. "When are we going to call them and let them know?"

"What I want to do is get to the targeted location and then call them. I don't want to call them, then leave for the location and let them know again. I know how Maria hates waiting during these kinds of cases and just doing that to her, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Sounds like a good plan. Shall we get going?" Olivia asked as she made sure that her vest was secure before double checking her firearm was firmly secure. "Suspect is due there in an hour, so..." She nodded to her partner, Derek, as he checked his vest and firearm one last time, before pulling on his coat to withstand the chill that was coming.

"Alright, let's head out and get into positions! Suspect is due very shortly, so we must be quick about it." He announced to the waiting officers and detectives. "Let's make sure we get this right the second time because there will no third time."

Heading out into the slightly chilly air and piling into the waiting vehicles, they headed out to the designated place and got into position. Cragen pulled out his walkie as Rush kneed down beside him, watching her partner lean against the car and trying to look like nothing else was happening. "Everyone in place?" Muffled sounds over the walkie confirmed his question and he looked over at the rooftops. He could see the reflection of the rifles from the S.W.A.T team and sighed. "I best call them now," He whispered as he reached into his pocket, "he's due at any moment."

---------------------

The ringing of the phone caused Maria to jump up from the couch, pressing the button to pause the movie halfway through. Thomas moved quick from his position at the dining table as Maria reached around him and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"

"It's Cragen. Turn on the radio and just wait. Understand?"

Waving a hand towards John, catching his attention, she motioned the little radio for him to switch it on and replied into the phone. "I understand, also are we going to be able to hear everything or just what's said in the walkies?"

"Only what's going to be said in the walkies, but we will be in constant contact at all time and giving hints to Valens when he's speaking to the suspect."

"Understood," She sighed as she sat down at her dinning table, the two men joining her, "Cap, get the son of a bitch and kick him in the balls for me?"

Cragen chuckled over the phone, "I'll leave that for the others to do. I'm too old for that." His tone quickly changed to more serious. "We'll get him, kiddo. We have plenty of backup here and S.W.A.T as well. He's not going anywhere."

"Good luck." Clicking the off button, Maria looked over at Thomas and John, both watching her face. "Ok, let the show begin."

----------------

Valen's continued to lean against the car, watching as cars went past the vacated parking lot of the abandoned building complex and wishing that he was packing as he watched a car pull in. Standing straight up, which was a signal to the others, he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and nodded at the man in the driver's seat. "What took you? I said at two exactly. You're five minutes late."

"What? Too anxious to get business done and over with?" The man snipped as he got out of the car, his dark eyes narrowing. "Got the money?"

Valen's reached into his car and pulled out a suitcase, holding it up for him to see. "Half up front and rest when the job is done." He handed it to him, letting him open it and count the money. "So, you have done this before, right?"

He's dark haired head snapped over in his direction, looking him over. "Of course I have! I'm kill for hire, _dumb ass._ Last gig I did was two or three years ago. Got myself a cop to add to my notch." He sneered, showing Scotty a few missing teeth. Scotty held his ground and dared himself to not cringe, after all, he mentioned what they wanted to hear. "It was an easy kill, though."

"What do you mean? Cops are not easy to kill now-a-days."

"Not this guy. Stood right in plain sight with some tramp behind him." He closed the case and placed it into the back of his car. "Took her out as well, just as a precaution. So, who'd you want me to get again?"

"My wife, Rosie. Bitch been an ass for several years now and can't take it no more." Valens withdrew the Polaroid photo from his jacket and handed it over. "Pretty thing, but a bitch none the less."

Will Dukens looked over the photo, checking her out with his dark eyes. "Guess she's a vixen in the sack huh?" He smiled, seeing Valens blush from the comment. Seeing the blush crease over the man's face, he glanced down at the photo again, his dark eyes scanning over it. "Well, when and where do you want me to do the deal?"

"How about tomorrow at noon? She leaves her company at exactly noon for lunch," He handed Will the directions to the workplace, "Since her car is in the highest part of the garage, it'll be easy to get her from a distance and not be seen."

"Easy work, huh? This'll be just as easy as last time." He chuckled as he stashed the photo into his coat pocket, "Since she's in plain sight, like he was, this'll be real easy."

Giving the single to move in, Valens backed up and was pulled behind a S.W.A.T member while Cragen and the others moved in with weapons raised. "Hands up! Now!" Cragen snapped out as they slowly headed in, trying to corner Will Dukens against the car. With a slick smile on his face, Dukens raised his arms above his head and Fin moved forward to arrest him, slapping the cuffs on harder then was needed.

As Fin and Elliot gave him his rights, Cragen spoke quickly into in walkie, revealing the others from their watch and to cause a huge sigh to erupt from the Frank house. Clicking the walkie off, Cragen turned to Rush and Valens, seeing the man wiping sweat from his forehead. "You OK, Valens?"

"I'll be fine. Didn't think he was going to speak about the case, let alone twice to me." He said, a chuckle coming from him in relief. "What's next? The fun interrogation?"

Cragen nodded as he turned to watch the car drive off with Dukens in the backseat, "That'll be the fun part. Be sure to get the needed information from your Captain about the gun you found. Glad to hear that they were able to track it back to here, now just need to prove it to him. Wonder what kind of blood sucking lawyer he's gonna get to try and bail him out. One thing for sure, no deal is going to come from this case." Taking the wireless mick from Valens, he watched as an officer called CSU before turning back to them. "When we get back, I would like you both to be in with the interrogation and drill him hard. I want him drilled harder then an oil drill and I'd like a full confession before tomorrow afternoon. After that, we may have to let him go with the hold of twenty-four hours being up at that time. Is that clear?"


	17. Chapter 17

"Yes, yes, _yes_!" Maria happily cheered as she wrapped her arms around both men, stunning Thomas and knocking the wind out of John. Once she released Thomas, he straighten himself, fixed the position of his tie and cleared his throat, all the while hiding the fact that he was smiling as well. John steadied himself and her by placing one hand on her back and one hand up against the wall.

"Ok, that part's done-now it's the joy of getting him to admit to it when being interrogated." Thomas reminded her, but not dampening her smile, "it's not over yet, but this is a good sign, none the less."

Maria shook her head, a smirk played across her lips, "You know, you really do try to damper a good mood, don't you?" Thomas's expression lowered a little and he shrugged his shoulders, giving off a vibe that he had seen it too many times. "Well," Maria started as she shut off the radio and picked up her now cold coffee, "I don't see any kind of lawyer wanting to deal with that man, frankly. With his history, and everything, I don't see him getting off easy for anything."

"So you know any lawyers that might want to take a chance with him?" Thomas questioned as he sat down at the table, watching as the other two slipped into some free seats. "I don't see bail in his future, I'd love to see him get tossed into Rikers and," He nodded to John, "to toss that file of yours and let me get out of your lives."

"Now, that would be nice," John shot back, earning a frown from the other man. Hearing a throat being cleared, John turned his head to look at Maria who was busy staring at him with a look he had not seen for a while. It was her 'behave' look and a priceless one at that, making him exhale a breath to let the steam out, "Yes?"

"Behave," Maria said with a highly pitch, her dark brown eyebrows shooting up into her bangs, "Just behave for a little longer, John," She winked at him before turning her attention to Thomas. "Yes, I know some lawyers who would like work with a man eating lion, say that it does not attack people and have a silly recommendation of mental disease placed on the table."

"Don't say that too loud, now," Thomas warned, holding up a hand and shaking his head, "That would be a nasty piece of work if that ever came through."

-----------------------

"That son of a bitch is a nasty piece of work, I must say." Benson said as she left the small room, her partner watching Dukens with a guard nearby, "He didn't even blink when we said he could get the death penalty for what he did." She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, fighting a troublesome headache that was coming, "How about you and Valens take a whack at him for a little bit?" She asked Rush, who was standing next to Cragen and watching the outcome, "might do him some good with new eyes and minds."

"Make sure you speak to him as if John is deceased," Cragen started, his eyes staring straight at the man, "We don't want him to know that John is alive."

Valens picked up the folder, with information in it from their captain, and exhaled a deep sigh, "Let's play cat and mouse. Again." Opening the door, Rush allowed the other detective and officer to leave while Valens placed the folder on the table and opened it. "Do you recognize this weapon?" He questioned as he held up the photo of the sniper rifle, that had been found in Philly.

Staring at the male detective before looking at the photo, Dukens sighed and smirked. "Maybe, I have a few that look like that, but not the same type. That one is a bolt action Lee-Enfield that's still in service, while I have Mosin-Nagant rifles." He took a hold of the photo and looked it over, "I don't have that kind, but it's a nice one none the less. Makes a nice quick kill."

"Like that detective a few years back?" Lily asked showing a picture of the crime scene of John's body before being moved, "And that other detective you shot as well?" She held up a photo of Maria's unconscious body before she was moved to the hospital. "Those bullets that were removed from them match that rifle and we have a trail of of people, saying where that rifle came from, and it points back to you."

"It's a job-"

"To kill innocent people? A dedicated detective is dead and another one was severely wounded that day and you just say it's a _job_?!" Valens snapped, leaning against the table and his face inches from Dukens, "It's _murder_, whether a job or not, to kill any person."

Dukens made eye contact with Valens and grinned, showing his badly decaying teeth. "Look, detective, you look for people who are what you don't see fit for this world and I kill people who I see doing anything fit for this world. My client wanted that detective gone because he snooped and stuck that nose of his in places where it shouldn't have been. A neighbor taddle-taled to him, so I took care of that man. Next, was that detective. I had to take care of him and I did that when they thought an arrest would have gone well and that's all I'm saying."

"You just admitted to killing the neighbor, Detective Munch and the attempted murder of Detective Frank, do you know that?" Rush said, pulling a recorder out from under the table and slipped it behind her.

"It's because he's mentally insane, detectives." A man walked in, a vibe going off that he was a lawyer.

"And you are?" Valens asked as Rush stuffed the recorder into her pocket, hoping that he had not seen it.

"The name's Oliver Gates and I'm Dukens lawyer. I'm getting a feeling we have not met before?" He said, holding his hand out for Valens or Rush to shake.

"Out of state detectives working a case that killed a detective that worked here, I don't see that being mentally insane." Rush said, ignoring the hand that was held out before them.

"I see us having fun later, detectives." Dukens remarked as he sat back in his seat.

---------------------------------

"So, he now has a lawyer that saying he has a mental illness that makes him think that killing people for money is a day-to-day job." Cragen recalled, sitting in Maria's living room and a mug of coffee held in his hands, "This is just getting better and better."

"Mental illness?" John repeated, he looked over his glasses at Cragen, who nodded, and looked over at Maria, "Didn't you just say something like that this earlier?" All eyes turned toward Maria, who was trying hard not to laugh at jinxing the case.

"I'm so screwed, aren't I?" She chuckled as she stood up and left to the kitchen, returning carrying three items; a glass, can of soda and a small bottle of rum, "We were having a discussion about this case earlier, after you caught him, and I had said something of a mental illness or disease being placed on the table." She poured in the soda first before adding the rum and drank half of it down, "I'm such a moron for jinxing the case," She chuckled to herself from pure stupidity of herself.

"No, you're not," Olivia disagreed, watching her walk back over and plop down onto the couch, almost sitting on John's lap and glass still in hand, "I'm not surprised that Mr. Gates would have said that, course it seemed that almost all of them from past years have been trying to pass the mental illness card."

"Because it normally works and it leaves us ripping our hair out from frustration," Cragen said, looking at his former team and the two Philly cops, all who had sullen looks on their faces, "But, it's not over yet. We need to turn this over to a DA who does murder cases and not SVU cases, since there is no rape involved," Maria felt John shudder as he wrapped and arm around her waist, "so, that's that."

"What has me wondering," Fin started, leaning forward in his seat, "he must have altered that weapon somehow to have the black talons work. Last time I checked, it would have not worked with the weapon that had been used."

"That shows full intent to kill and, to have the skill to alter a weapon to that extent, tells me that he can't have a mental illness," Elliot agreed, "It was a planned before hand. I say, we point that out to the ADA who will take the case."

"Yes, we are going to have to do that, but also," Fin nodded in Maria's direction, "Will she have to testify?"

"I hope in Hell not! I didn't even see anything, let along John was a target." Maria snipped as she held her glass close to her lips, eyes hiding behind her bangs. Feeling her own tension rising, John pulled her closer to him in attempts to calm her enough to speak without snapping. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Maria started again. "Sorry, it's just...I didn't see anything, so why would I have to testify? That's like asking a blind person if they saw the person robbing them."

"Point taken," Fin nodded, accepting her apology, "So, where do we go now?"

"Now, someone should go down to see if Dukens did, in fact, alter the weapon himself or someone else did it for him," Cragen started, "and I'm going to talk with one DA I have in mind who can do the case. That's that."

"And that's that," Maria repeated, head resting against John's shoulder, "I should keep my mouth shut next time," She whispered as she closed her eyes, not liking this was going.


	18. Chapter 18

Glancing at the clock, Cragen couldn't believe that it was midnight and they were still discussing the case at hand. Hating to break up the party, Cragen stood and cleared his throat, "I hate to break this up, but it's midnight and we have things to do in the morning." Not wanting to leave, but understanding what they had to do, they slowly got ready to leave and headed to the back door.

Seeing an opportunity, Fin took a hold of John's upper arm and pulled him to the side. Making sure that Maria was not listening, Fin lowered his voice to a quiet tone. "Did you find the box?"

"Yeah, I did and it was unopened. She said that she didn't open anything when packing my belongings." John whispered back, watching from the corner of his eye if Maria noticed them talking, not wanting her to know at all. "She only asked about it once, and has not asked since."

"Is she...?" Fin left that question hanging in the air, waiting to see if he would finish that sentence.

"I don't know, Fin, I just don't know." John shrugged his shoulders and he shoved his hands into his pockets, jiggling the coins that he had found in the laundry earlier that morning. "I, honestly, don't know. I want to when this is over, but...I-I don't know."

Nodding his head with an understanding, he waved his hand in Maria's direction as he headed out the door. Closing the door behind Fin, John slowly walked into the living room to see Thomas with his phone to his ear, possibly talking with his boss, and Maria who was filling Ronnie's food bowl. "So," He walked over to her, reaching in the scratch the rodent's head and grinning at her, "How about we finish that movie?"

------------------

Rush's head snapped up when her cell phone fell of the side table, the vibrate on high. Fumbling for it in the dark, she flipped it open and flopped on her back, hoping it was very important. "Yeah?"

"It's Cragen," The older man's voice sounded exhausted, but wide awake, "Can you and Valens come down to the station house?"

"Sure thing," she replied, not fully aware of what she had agreed to, but knowing she had to, "Be there in a few."

------------------

"Did something happen to Dukens?" Lily asked as they walked into Cragen's office, everyone else was there as well.

"We have until morning to prove that Dukens is not mentally ill and forensics found that he had altered the weapon and not a professional." Cragen explained as he shut the door, out of the pure habit, "It's close to two in the morning now and we have until ten to find him guilty of the crime, least that's what the DA told me." He looked at the people before him, each trying to fight to stay standing from exhaustion, let alone staying awake. "I know that you are all tired and this has to be the dumbest move by me, but we need to do this. With Rush and Valens here to help us along, we'll be able to get this done faster, hopefully."

"So, who's going to forensics and who's going to go through weapon store receipts, because I know we have those." Olivia brought up, running her fingers through her tussled dark highlighted hair.

"You and Rush are to go see forensics, since I kept them up with this case, and I want Valens, Fin and Elliot to sort through the receipts. Find anything that has his name on it and I want it on my desk in a few hours. Get moving."

Quickly follow Olivia, Rush slipped to walk beside the fast pacing woman, "Think we'll get anything good from forensics that can prove it?"

Olivia smiled, hiding the exhaustion in her eyes, "I have a good feeling that they will and can find something. There's no way Dukens is going to get away with this, mental illness or not."

The boys were thinking the same thing, but the voice of their beds calling them really was distracting them from what they had to do. With five boxes of receipts and only three men to go through them, eyes were going to go cross, sooner or later. "Anyone have anything?" Elliot asked as he tossed a receipt into the useless file and reached for another stack.

"I may have something here," Valens started as he handed Elliot the thin piece of paper, pointing out what he found with his pen, "Right here, it says he ordered a box of Black Talons and a certain type of file that works with the kind of Barrel that is on the rifle."

"Bingo, want to show Cragen this or shall I?" He asked Valens, who stretched out his back and all three heard the pop.

"Nah, go ahead, you can get the glory. I'm just here to put a mad man in prison." He watched as Elliot rushed out before looking back at Fin, who was rubbing the his eyes with the heel of his hands. "Hanging in there, Fin?"

"More or less, to be honest," The dark skinned man replied, hand going over his mouth and stifling a yawn, "Sat here for two hours and found one thing with his name. I bet Cragen's gonna make us go through the other piles."

"I thought Black Talons weren't being made any more? Because of what happened in the early or mid ninety's." Valens gave him a questionable look as Fin stood to look in the remaining boxes, a frown forming on his face.

"There not, but I bet that those, that were bought, were what was left over when no one bought them. Makes me wonder how many more are still out there, waiting to be bought and maybe have the same thing happen, what happened to those two." He sighed, sitting back down and stared at the door, waiting for Elliot to return.

--------------------

Olivia snapped her phone closed and looked over at Rush, who was talking with the forensics people about what they had found. "Good news! They found a receipt with Dukens name on it, and a few questionable items on the list. What did you get, Rush?"

One of the Tech's held up the barrel of the rifle and pointed to a small location inside the barrel. "See how it's uneven here, but not here?" Both woman nodded, "That means he filed the inside of this barrel to make it big enough to fit a Black talon, leaving a very unusual marking on the two bullets from the shooting." He reached over and picked up two small containers, each one containing a bullet from the shooting. "This one," he held up that had Maria's name on it, "Was damaged since it had hit a rib bone or two when it hit her and this one," he held up the one with John's name on it, "has no damage, but both match perfectly to this rifle."

"Just need to prove that Dukens had bought the rifle. Did they find a receipt yet that says he had bought this one?" Rush looked at Olivia, who shook her head, "Not yet?"

"Not yet, they just found a few interesting items that were on the one they found, but they are still going through more boxes," She nodded at the tech, "Anything else?"

"Nope, but if something pops up, you'll be the first to know."

Heading out, they met up with Elliot who was sitting in Cragen's office and the receipt on Cragen's desk. "So, are there any more receipts with his name on it or is this it?"

"We found a few more, but still looking for one that will give us the needed evidence to convict him of the shooting." Elliot said as he headed back out, "and still looking for that rifle receipt."

That last sentence by Elliot made Cragen throw his hands into the air and give a frustrated grunt, "Great, just great," He sat in his seat and slumped forward, elbows on his desk, "Well, while I'm waiting for a call from the DA, you two go help the guys to make the hunt for that one receipt go faster since we are running out of time."

Nodding in agreement, Olivia and Lily joined the men in a spare room, the boxes making it hard to see who was sitting where. Sitting in the only free seats left, they both picked up a stack of receipts and proceeded to go through them, looking out for the name and the weapon in question. As the time went by and the search for the receipt became more frantic, to the point all were wishing the clock would tick slower.

Hearing a door open at five minutes to ten, all tensed up as the DA entered, a hopeful look on his face, as well as Cragen's face. "Find it yet?"

"We have five minutes left. Give us those five minutes, please!" Elliot snapped as he grabbed for another stack, looking at each one quickly before moving on the next one, the rest following at his pace. "Just give us those five minutes here."

Sighing, the DA looked at Cragen when they heard a cheer come from Fin, holding up the receipt, "Got it!" causing them to snap their heads in the direction of the dark skinned man, "I got it Cragen!"

Taking it from his hand, Cragen looked it over before handing it to the other man, a grin telling all how he was feeling, "Got what you really needed for this case. Will this get him convicted for the murder and attempted murder?"

Looking down at the receipt in Cragen's hand, Jackson glanced up and gave a small nod, "I bet I can do it, I'll let you know later this afternoon."


	19. Chapter 19

The sound of a cordless phone ringing caused Maria to snap awake and reach for it, in her semi-blind state. Adding to the difficulty that there was a man practically laying on top of her back after they finished watching the movie, making her reach out as far as her fingers would allow and grabbed the antenna of the phone. "Honestly, not objecting to this, however...," she paused to brace herself up on her elbows and making him shift the roll over in his side and answered the phone, "Maria speaking."

"It's Cragen, I have some great news this morning for you and John," she could practically hear his smile on the other side, "the DA was able to put him in prison before the trial without bail. The judge saw right though the so called 'mental illness caused me to do it' play."

"That wonderful to hear, Sir," Maria commented as she stifled a yawn and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand, "What's next and when's the trial?" She rolled onto her back to look over at the man beside her, still deep in sleep. _How the phone never woke him, I'll never know._

"The trial is set for next week and we'd like for you to come in so DA Jackson can meet you and John's going to have to stay home, of course," she heard him shift in his seat, possibly leaning back, "for now, sit tight and we'll keep up you up to date with anything that comes up."

"I understand, sir, and thank you for calling," She smiled as she pressed the end button and stared at the still sleeping man, "You continuing to surprise me, dear, how did that no wake you up?"

"Sort of did," he mumbled, still not moving from his current position, which was laying on his stomach, "Was that Cragen?"

"Sure was," She whispered as she leaned against him, rubbing her hand from his shoulder to his wrist and back up, with her head resting in the center of his back, "Dukens is in prison, without bail, and the DA who is doing the case wants to meet me."

"Does he, or she, want to meet you today?" He asked, reaching up to take a hold of the hand that going up and down his arm and linking their fingers.

"I don't know, he didn't mention it, but I really don't think so today." Maria sat up to look down at him, his even breathing tell her he was wide awake, but the eyes were still closed. "John?"

"Hm?"

"Can...can I see your wound from that day?" Maria muttered as she rested her chin on his shoulder, watching his face carefully as he opened one eye to look at her. Moving onto his back to look at her better, he kept his eyes locked on her as he carefully undid the buttons to expose the scar over his heart. Maria's eyes moved to look at it, the raised scar where the surgery had been and the indentation where the bullet went in. Placing her hand on top of the two scars, it suddenly dawned on her that she almost lost him that day. Placing a hand over her mouth, she choked out a sob as she slowly ran her fingers over the scar. "Oh...God...," Maria closed her eyes and felt a pressure on the side of her head, where John's hand went to slowly run his fingers through her dark strands.

"Shhh, I'm right here, sweetie," John whispered as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him, "I'm right here, Maria, I'm not going anywhere without you." Moving her a little, John shifted her to sit her on his lap to hold Maria closer to him. Resting her head against his shoulder, Maria closed her eyes and concentrated on his breathing and could clearly hear his heart beat, considering her head was resting on his left shoulder, "You know what, Maria?"

"Hm, what?"

"Besides missing you as much as I did, I sure in Hell missed your cooking," He chuckled when Maria lightly slapped his chest, a smile tugged lips, "What? Is it bad that I missed your wonderful cooking?"

"And a way to a man's heart is through his stomach," Maria laughed and laughed harder when John lifted her a little and dropped her on the bed, "Now, why did you do that?" Her smile didn't falter when he hovered over her and his eyes started roaming over her. "We can't do it yet, John, you know that."

Leaning down with his hands placed on each side of her head, John softly pressed a kiss to the bridge of her nose and moved down to her lips. "Just because we can't, doesn't mean that I can stare and drool over you," he grinned as his eyebrows shot up, giving her a hint of what was playing through his mind.

Sighing at the thought, Maria placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back, sitting up in the process. "Let's not go there yet and get ready for now," she held up her hand, knowing what crossed his mind, "And keep you head out of the gutter-I meant getting ready for the day, goofy."

-------------------

"With the trial set for next week, all evidence has to be in order and I'd like to set a time to talk with Ms. Frank," DA Jackson stated as he and Cragen walked down the hall way, maneuvering around other people, "you spoke to her this morning, right?"

"Yep, and she has no problem meeting with you at this point. She just wants this over with and out of the way," Cragen sighed as he held his office door open for Jackson before walking in himself. "Since she didn't see the shooter, would she have to testify anyway?"

"At this rate, I don't believe she does. All we need is the evidence in right place and all's good!" Jackson smiled as he sat across from Cragen and looked over the reports, his dark eyes scanning over it to make sure all was there. "I do have one question, though, and it's about the murdered man."

"Hm?" Cragen forced his best concerned look, knowing fully well that the so-call 'murdered man' was happily enjoying time with the woman he had been away from for two long years.

"Feel free to stop me, Don, but what was he like? Being one of your best detectives, as you had told me, he must have had a great shield on his belt."

"He was a pistol, some would say, and could never keep his opinions to himself when it was about a case, his own theories really. Had a great heart and would protect a fly from being killed instead of hurting it himself, if you get what I'm saying."

"Sounds like he was a great man, Don," Jackson gave a small smile as he placed the reports down and sighed, "How about the two detectives from Philly, are they staying until the trial is over or head home?"

"They're staying until the trial is over," Cragen placed the report in the file and tucked it away, "Both have been very helpful through this, even though they started first with this case and now we're all involved. We lost track two years ago and it went cold, but when that weapon was found in their city, they came here to finish it. Now we have the suspect in prison, waiting for the trial and Maria is breathing easier with the small information we told her." He knew he was lying about certain information, but it felt better the lie then to tell the truth about what was real.

"Sounds good to me," Jackson stood, picking up his suitcase and looked at the door, "I have a good feeling about this case. It's a very good feeling that he'll be in prison for life or the needle."

"Considering the law says that killing a cop is an automatic needle, I see no chance of living very long after the trial," Cragen looked up at the lawyer, his fingers folded together. "Too bad we don't have a firing squad now a days. I would deserve that more then the needle, with what he did."

----------------------

A few days later...

"With the trial coming up and our Captain giving us a time until it's over, we're going to stay in the city for the next week," Lilly brought up as she swirled her glass of whiskey, sitting on Maria's dining table that evening. The day had been quiet for the most part and the out of state detectives were enjoying Maria's own kindness when she invited them for dinner. Picking up her fork, Lilly speared noodle and stared at it, twirling it around the four prongs of the fork. Satisfied when the end of the noodle appeared, Lilly popped it into her mouth, chewed and swallowed, "Okay, so I must ask - who cooked?"

Concentrating on his own meal, John pointed his fork in Maria's attention, who had stopped mid-bite to raise her hand at Lilly's question. "It's been a while since I have made a decent meal like this, but I haven't lost my touch," She smiled as she spooned a small amount of sauce onto her spaghetti noodles and looked around for the dressing, wanting to start on her salad soon. "Funny thing is, John offered to help, but I kicked him out."

"And I have the shoe imprint on my ass to prove it, too," John muttered as he glanced up at Lilly, a smile on his face before moving his eyes over to Thomas. "So, Tom, miss your family since you've been spending a lot of time watching us?"

Tom looked up from his plate and looked at the people watching him, a look flashing in his eyes when he looked at Maria and John sitting next to each other. "Bet my ex doesn't," he frowned a little before going back to his dinner, "she left some years ago with our then two year old daughter. Sally's ten now, last time I heard," He exhaled a long breath before continuing, "I hear from Maggie once in a while, more about child support then anything. Sally knows I'm here father, but she doesn't understand why I'm not in Chicago with them."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Valens spoke in a quiet tone, "Sally gets to speak with you over the phone, right?"

"Yeah and I send her a birthday card every year. I get the occasional card from her during odd times, but I have yet to speak to them since I started watching over these two." He looked up at John and noticed the two look at each other, something he had said got their attention. "What'd I say that got your attention?"

Maria gave a light cough while John cleared his throat and set his fork down. "Well, I have four divorces under my belt and we," he pointed at Maria and himself, "had a child between us that I didn't know about, until Maria ended up back in the city. But that's a totally different story all together," John leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs out, crossing his arms over his chest, "let's just say that she and I probably have the windiest roads in relationship history."

"And that's why you were protecting her that day," Thomas remarked, smiling at the pair, "with everything you two have dealt with for years, it's only natural to protect the one you love. You both have been through Hell and high water since the day you met, fought hard to keep your relationship secret from the big bosses at work, and fought tooth and nail with me since the day you were placed under protection."

"Let me ask this one question," Valens started, using his napkin to clean his chin, "How long have you two known each other?"

"Oh...since '96, when I was temporarily transferred to Baltimore for a year and something clicked between us." Maria stood and started removing a few dishes from the table, placing them on the counter, "wouldn't call it love at first sight, but we have been inseparable since then."

"Okay, so going on a personally level here, when did you two first sleep together?" Valens lightly pushed on, earning a look from Maria and a chuckle from John, who covered his smiling mouth with his hand. "C'mon, with how strong your relationship is, you two didn't last long before doing it together for the first time. I mean, it's natural to experience each other on that level, but how long before you did?"

Refusing to even saying a word, Maria continued to stare at Valens with a 'sure! I'm going to tell you, you runt!' look and almost whacked John upside the head when he said "two months!"

"Johnathan Munch!" Maria yelped with a stunned expression on her face as he ducked a hand that grazed his head, laughing as he grabbed the hand and pinned it behind her back. "You are one evil man, John, saying that to them," She gave a playful frown and yanked her arm free, continuing her cleaning duties as if nothing happened. To her knowledge, she could clearly hear them snickering at what had happened, even Thomas was finding it hard to keep a straight face. "Now, if we are all done laughing at the drama before you all," She slipped back into her seat, refilling her glass of wine, "how about we talk about something happier?"

"Like what?" Lilly leaned back in her seat, feeling more relaxed as the night went by. She was seeing a different side of Maria that she had not seen the day she met her, "Like what our city's like?" Valens nodded his head in agreement as he placed his silverware on his plate and pulled his salad to him.

"I've been to Philly once and, since he had been there once for a case, it doesn't seem different then every other city I've seen." Maria started, picking at her short finger nails, counting off how long it's been since she was there. "It's been years though since I've been there. I haven't really gone that far since I was a cop, you know? I mean, I grew up here, moved to Boston in my late teens and started there, then came back here. It's pretty boring for me," She chuckled nervously as she scratched her neck, slightly exposing the scar that the three pretended to not notice.

"What about you two? Must be a huge jump coming to ours, since you do most cold cases in Philly, right?" Thomas asked, tearing his eyes from Maria, who was fixing how her turtle neck was positioned, to Valens.

"More or less in a way. Had to do a few cases that were in Amish country-or at least, she did with another one of our colleagues." Valens nodded in Rush's direction, who had a sad smile on her face at the memory of that case.

"Oh, yeah, I remember that one well. Who knew that the dead could really pain you," She looked at the others, "living can kill you with their nightmares, but the dead sure do leave a mark on us."

"Frankly, it's never easy; choose what ever cop career is out there and it'll still break your heart," Maria agreed, "I still remember my first one to this day. A little toddler with no name, who was dumped in a dumpster and died during the cold night. I was the only one to name her when no one else could. Little Hope is buried in a small cemetery outside of Boston that we all paid for. Still no idea who did it and bet no one is going to come forward any time soon."

"That's awful," Valens commented, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah, it is...another reason why I'm glad I retired from it," she finished with a feeling of someone grasping her knee in support. Turning her head slightly, she could see John watching her carefully from the corner of his own eye. Reaching a hand down and grasping his fingers, she gave him a reassuring squeeze, letting him know that she knew fully. "Everything's going to alright, though," She started up again as she looked at the clock and saw how late it was, "Everything's going to be alright, I know it."


	20. Chapter 20

"With the trial coming up tomorrow, I figured today would be the day that we would have a little talk," Jackson stated as he sat across from Maria in the station house, placing a cup of coffee before her. "I'd like for us to just talk and give me a clear understanding, from your view, of the situations after it happened."

Taking the cup into both hands and letting the warmth travel from her fingers to her palm, Maria's eyes look over at the DA before scanning over what she once thought as her third home, John's old apartment being her second. "It's good to be back here, to be honest. After retired from NYPD for good, I never thought I'd step foot in here again and here I am." Taking a sip of hot liquid, she removed her glasses and looked at him again, "What would you like to know?"

"For starters, did you require to be in physical therapy after recovering?"

"Yes, I did," She nodded, "Considering the injury, it took me over a month of therapy before I could use my shoulder correctly and without wincing in pain." Closing her eyes and sighing, she continued on, "Due to the extent of my injury from the bullet, I had to be placed into a drug induced coma to cope with the surgeries I had to go through and machines had to help me breath for a while. In a week, I had five surgeries to repair and fix all damage caused by the Black Talon...," She paused to take a deep breath and chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, "Not fun, all in all."

"So, it wasn't a through and through shot?"

"Nope, it hit belong my left shoulder blade, right next to my spine, and bounced off a rib. The rib that was hit has a permanent indentation from being hit and it tends to make breathing difficult in that one lung, putting more strain on my right one." Maria took a deep breath and raised both eyebrows, "Another reason to retire, can't chase down perps if I can't breath right."

"Must be painful, dealing with all of that damage and having slight breathing difficulties," Jackson lowered his eyes, listening to what was being said, surprised that she had lived _and_ was not paralyzed. "Must have hit you just right to not paralyze you, considering it hit near your spine."

"Doctors considered me lucky, but I just called it survivor's guilt; God letting me continue on living and living with what happened." Maria felt a pang in her heart, thinking back with what she lived with when she thought _he_ was dead. Shaking her head and sighing, she forced a smile at the attorney, "Docs can call me all they want but I'll consider myself what ever I feel like calling myself," Her smile faltered the a blank look, "I'm grateful for what John-I mean, Detective Munch did to get me out of the way of danger, but I wish that he didn't have to go the way he did."

"You two were friends?"

Maria found herself fighting to not say 'more then friends', considering Jackson didn't know of their relationship they had and said one simple word of "yes."

Nodding his head in understanding, and seeing her demeanor falter the more she talked about her recovery, Jackson stood to show they were over. "Ms. Frank, I wish to say thank you for coming in and answering my questions. I'd like to ask if you could say a few words at the trial tomorrow, mostly of what you told me and what the recovery has been like since then."

Nodding her head in agreement, Maria held out her hand to him and grasp it, "I wouldn't mind it all and thank you for asking to speak to me. It's comforting to speak to someone else about this, especially when it comes to putting a man where he belongs."

-------------------

Taking the long way home, Maria's eyes were on the road, but her mind was somewhere else. Mostly, what was going to happen tomorrow and what was _he _going to say when put on the stand. It scared her to the point she almost had to pull over to the side of the road and catch her breath, forcing horrible thoughts that passed through her mind. _Cut that out, Maria Dean Frank. You know better then that! You've seen and been to almost every trial and that kind of killer always goes to jail. He made a promise to take you if he has to go back under, even if he has to fight with the Marshals. _

Pulling into her driveway, she unbuckled her seat belt and sat there. Just sat to think. Minutes past before she came to resolution that she couldn't think of what anymore and got out. Unlocking the door and stepping into her house, she saw Thomas washing a few dishes in the sink, humming to himself. "I could do that for you, Thomas, no need to do that."

"Nah," he held up a hand and shook his head, "I got it. Gives me something to do for the time being. Besides, it keeps me out of his way," he nodded his head in the direction of the open basement door, a rustling sound coming from it.

"Why is John in the basement?"

"I don't know-he went down right after you left and hasn't come up since," he shrugged as he placed a plate on the rack to dry, "listen, I have to go take to my boss for a little bit..."

"I know the drill," she smiled as she took the firearm he held out for her and stashed it under her belt, "lock the door, keep this close and knock once when you want to come back in." closing the door behind him and locking with all locking systems she had, Maria headed down the carpeted steps of the basement and the rustling grew louder the more she walked down. "John boy, where are you hiding now?"

"Over here!" A hand appeared from around a corner and waved her over, "I thought that was you I heard coming in. Where'd Thomas go?"

"He had to leave to talk with his boss," Maria's attention went to a around fenced pen that stood in the middle of the finished basement, a variety of cloths were placed in the middle and a white streak zoomed through one round tunnel to another, "I see you found Ronnie's indoor pen."

"Yeah, he looked a little lonely up there, so I brought him down after I put in it together," John picked up a box and placed it on the other side of the room, "He was also driving Thomas crazy with his bar chewing."

"That's a sign he's lonely," she watched him moved another box to join the other, "so, what are you doing? Moving into my basement or are you making a bomb shelter?"

"Hardly, babe, I'm reorganizing my belongings just because," he walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "whether I'm going back under or not, I just felt like I needed to do this." His grip around her became tighter and he buried his face into her neck, slightly alarming her when she felt him shudder.

"John?" She whispered as she moved her hands over his, Maria could feel the long fingers dig into the harder she grasped his hands. It was never painful for her, but it was a sign he was upset about something and wasn't saying what. "John, what's the matter, baby?"

"I...," he started, but took a deep breath to calm himself before trying to speak again, "I'm so sorry, sweetie." He pulled his head away from her and pressed his forehead against her shoulder, grinding his teeth in frustration. "It my fault this all happened and why we are in this situation. If I hadn't been stupid about the case and that neighbor...he wouldn't be dead if he had not told me...it's all my fault."

Turning around in his arms, Maria placed her fingers under his chin and forced him to look at her. Jerking his head away from her in his own anger, he averted his eyes to glare at something else. He was not angry at her at all, it was his own stupidity he was angry at and he had held it in for so long, it was bound to burst out at once. "John, look at me," Maria's voice was firm, yet soft, as she took another hold and forced him to look right at her.

His brown eyes slowly connected with her green ones and he could see the fear she had in her's, she was scared as well. His chin starting to tremble and tears forming in his eyes, John opened his mouth, but no words could form.

"I know you're scared," Maria said in a low voice, her throat tightening with the emotions coming, "but it's not your fault. Things happen for a reason, whether for good or for bad, but it straighten itself out for the better. If that neighbor had not told you, he would have told someone else and we would have two unsolved deaths on our hands. That's something that none of us what to see, right?" He gave a small nod, blinking back his own tears, "okay now, stop apologizing for shit that's not your fault."

"Okay," he whispered as he pulled her closer, "I'm still sorry though-" He was cut off when a finger was placed over his lips, stopping him from finishing. Slowly glancing at her, his own clouded eyes finished telling her what he wanted to say and watched a smile form on her face.

"I accepted your apology the first time, no need to say it again," placing her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. Completely wrapping his arms around her, John lost all thoughts when she invited him in and proceeded to tickle the top of her mouth. Hearing her give a small giggle, he couldn't help but smile as she pulled back and moved to his neck. Biting his bottom lip to control his own fighting will, John took deep breaths and focused on her nips and gentle touches.

Hearing two knocks on the back door, both released each other and took deep breathes to steady themselves, "To be honest, I'm glad there was an interruption," John squeezed his eyes shut and sat down in a chair, trying to lower his risen temptations. Opening his eyes and looking up Maria, he saw she was looking up to where the back door was located, "What's the matter?"

"I had told Thomas to knock once when he got back and that was two," reaching for the firearm under her belt, she unlocked it and headed slowly up the stairs. "You stay right there and don't move until I say so, understand me?" Maria watched him nod silently and finished the climb up the steep steps. Pressing herself against the wall and peered through the peephole in the door, she could see a recognizable black ponytail and skin color. Letting out a relieved sigh, she unlocked it and stashed the weapon back under her belt, "Fin, don't scare me like that again."

"Didn't mean to," he looked at the weapon and quickly knew what she meant, "I'm guessing Thomas is not here?"

"No, he left for a little bit and I'm armed just in case," Looking down the stairs, she saw John still sitting in the chair and cuddling Ronnie, _D'aw! Isn't he adorable with a fluffy creature._ "John, it's alright to come up. It's just Fin," Turning her head and smiling at Fin, she motioned to the living room, "what brings you here?"

"Heard Jackson spoke with you and, with the trial coming up tomorrow, you're going to say a few words?"

"He asked me to, to give the jury an idea of what I had to go through after the shooting and since I'm _suppose _to be the only survivor, I'll have to bring up the tears." She sighed as she sat down at the table, watching John place Ronnie on the table and allowing him to run alone the top. "And, if he pees on this table, you'll be cleaning it, buster."

"Gotcha," he nodded as he sat beside her and folded his fingers on top of the table, "So, my man, is there a good chance that Dukens will be shoved in prison and join the scumbags?"

"Those chances are high, considering all evidence is holding up very well and the judge, from what I heard, wants justice." Fin reached out and petted the rodent, who held his head up high as if to check out this new person in his area, "the judge is one that we didn't work with before, only homicide cases for some reason, but she's a good person."

"A judge that is understanding and a good woman, my kind of person," the corner of her mouth turned up into a small smile, Maria watched the rodent close his eyes and purr at the stroking he was receiving. "Where's Valens and Rush?"

"Cragen told them to get some good rest for tomorrow and they've had the day off, except to talk with their captain in Pennsylvania."

"Well, they deserve it big time," John glanced down at his fingers and made a triangle shape with his thumbs and index fingers. "Thankful for them to take it out of their time to come here and do what they did." His eyes shifted over to Maria when he felt a hand grasp his knee, and resisted the urge to kick Fin out and just take her. Sighing, he knew full well they couldn't do that yet, with the risk without protection high at the moment. "Would there be any way for me to hear in on what's going on tomorrow?"

Fin shook his head, a firm frown, "Wish there was, but there's no chance we can bring in a radio. I don't think any radio can reach as far from this house to the court room, let alone it would interfere with anything electronic in the room."

"True," He replied in a lowered voice, disappointed he was unable to hear the verdict, "You'd know I hate waiting for a verdict, right?"

"We both know that, hun, but just hang in there," Maria reassured, "Thomas can keep you company until I come back. I think it would be better if I told you the verdict face to face in case you may have to go back under-"

"I told you, I'm taking you with even if I go kicking and screaming," he stated firmly, reminding her of his promise, "I'm not leaving without you this time."

"I know," she whispered before her head snapped in the direction of a single knock at the door. "Just in case it's not Thomas, Fin, watch him while I see who it is," she kept her voice low as she stood and walked slowly to the back door, hand on the weapon. Fin watched her carefully while John scooped up Ronnie and held him close, feeling like he should protect something.

Peering through the peephole, Maria reached for the locks and unlatched them, allowing Thomas to come back in. "Didn't expect it to be that short of a meeting with my boss," he sighed heavily as he removed his coat and took a hold of the weapon Maria held out for him. "and it's getting colder out there."

"Where'd you go, if I'm allowed to ask?"

"There's another person going under protection and, once we know wants going on with the trial, I'm going to reassigned to watch that person." He sat down at the table and ran his fingers through his graying hair, "That would make nine people I'm watching."

"Makes me wonder how many people I have come across who are under protection," Fin started, "It's a small world, after all."

------------------

An hour later, both had their backs to each other as they prepared for bed. Maria was focused on filing her nails down while John undid the buttons of his shirt, his nerves driving him crazy. Tomorrow felt like they were deciding on his own fate, who was going to own his soul for a long time and he didn't like it. "Maria?"

"Hm?"

"While we were in the basement, what you had done I mean, can...can you do that again?"

Shifting her sitting position to look at him, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're nervous about tomorrow, aren't you? Scared?" Her thumb softly stroked the side of his neck, feeling his muscles clench and unclench as he nodded his head, the nervous side spilling out. "Lay on your back and relax, okay?" she asked as she braced up on her knees, hands on his shoulders and pulling him back.

Laying flat on his back, he watched as she straddled him and gently ran her hands up his chest before leaning down, her lips ghosting against his own. Smiling at the sound of his breathing becoming a little heavier, she moved her head to kiss below his ear and earned a sigh. John couldn't help but give a small smile as he turned his head to give her move access while gliding his hands up her sides, fingers lightly touching what skin they could get in contact with.

Humming in approval, Maria lightly bit down where his pulse was pounding and smiled when he let out a small gasp, feeling him fighting the urge to buck against her. Instead, his hands slipped under her shirt and gripped her firmly. "Maria," John whispered slowly when she moved to kiss him at the base of his throat before looking him in the face, his eyes looking at her lazily.

Running her fingers though his hair, Maria smiled down at him, "Feel better for tonight?" Unable to really form words, John nodded his answer while a hand went up to cup the side of her face, his thumb gently rubbing under her eye. Placing her hand over his, she leaned into the touch and sighed, "I love you."

Holding her tighter and pulling her down on top of him, John sighed heavily as they held on to each other. Reaching to take a hold of the comforter, he drapped it over her shoulders as she wrapped one arm under his neck and rested her head against his shoulder. Feeling her free hand glide up and down his bare chest, he took a gently hold of it and linked their fingers together. "If you leave before I even get up, I'll be here waiting for you after the trial." He whispered as his eyes slide shut and held her tighter, feeling their linked fingers loosen as they drifted off.


	21. Chapter 21

Hearing her cellphone going off early in the morning, Maria fumbled around the find it before it woke anyone else up. "This had better be good who ever is calling," she mumbled into it, hearing sounds of shuffling on the other end.

"Sorry to give you this wake up call, Ms. Frank, but Cragen wanted me to make sure you were up and here within the hour." Lilly Rush apologized as she looked under the hotel bed for her other shoe. "Since it's after seven, and court's a little after nine, he called and told me to say that."

"Why couldn't he call instead," She firmly stated as she sat up and pinched the bridge of her nose, opening one eye to look at John out cold on his back. One arm was over his head while the other crossed over his chest, deeply breathing. "Was he busy with other deals to deal with to not find the time to give me a two minute call?"

"And I'm guessing you're not a morning person," Lilly chuckled, "Yes, he was in the midst of a meeting and he warned me you'd be a little snippy." Lilly moved to knock on next door of the hotel, making sure Valens was up, dressed and ready to go.

"I try not to be, honest. Cragen once got an ear full for getting me up in two in the morning, didn't help I just went to bed an hour before." Maria smiled into the phone as she unconsciously ran her fingers through John's slightly ruffled hair. "All right, so I'm now up and see you in a little while." Closing her cell, she looked down at him and couldn't help but smile at him, loving how young he looked when he slept. "You're too adorable when you sleep, my handsome man," Maria whispered as she pressed a kiss below his ear, watching him take a deep breath before relaxing again in his sleep.

Slowly getting out of the bed, Maria shifted the blankets to cover him better before grabbing a few clothes and heading down stairs. Taking a quick shower and continuing to towel dry her hair, she reached to grab an apple from the fruit bowl and saw something interesting on her couch. Thomas, wide awake, had the familiar rodent on his chest and was petting him. "You know, the more you hang around, the more I'm learning about you."

Thomas looked up at Maria and shrugged, "Eh, doesn't bother me. He looked like he wanted out, so here we are." He held his hands out as Ronnie stuck his nose in the air, smelling the familiar scent of his own 'mother'. "I hope you don't mind that I did take him out, however."

Maria shrugged as she took a bite out of the apple and it out for Ronnie to take a bites from. "As long as you don't leave the house with him, I don't mind," she sighed as she hunted for her sneakers, finding one under the table and the other half way under the couch. _Go figure. The shoe goblin is at it again! _"If and when he crawls out of the cave, there are a few board games to keep you both busy until I get back. I know he's not going to be able to keep focus on the television with this going through his head, but I bet chess will keep him occupied." Opening the closet and pulling a few games, she set them down on the table and grabbed for her keys.

"He means a lot to you, doesn't he?" Thomas asked in a quiet tone, watching her from over the top of the couch, "Keeping him occupied so he doesn't worry is very important to you."

"Besides Ronnie, he's what I have left in my life. Parents are dead, relatives scattered to the winds and my only son is dead. Keeping him sane during this is just as important to me as putting Dukens in prison," Maria sighed out in one breath as she tucked her wallet into her back pocket, "and with our history, we're all we have. I don't want him to be worried or nervous, but he won't show it to you because he's too proud to do that. Just keep his mind going or you're going to be knee deep in conspiracy theories in five seconds of him opening his mouth. Least with me not here assist in that, it won't be as painful or so I've heard."

"And I'll keep that in mind," He stood up and placed Ronnie back in his cage, "so you'll be back around mid afternoon or so?"

"More or less, I'll be back as soon as I can though." She waved as she headed out the door, locking it behind her.

-----------------

Standing outside the court house, Valens and Rush watched as people after people entered the building, both wondering if some or _all_ was here for the case. As a troop of vultures, also known as the media, headed in through the doors, Valens waved his hand in the air and earned a wave in return from a smiling Maria. Slipping into the building without being noticed by the attention drawn media, all three walked down the wide hallway before reaching the court room near the end. Cragen, along with Olivia, her partner and Fin, they nodded in almost unison as Cragen handed Maria a container of coffee. "Glad you got my message from Rush this morning. I heard you got a little snippy when she called." He couldn't help but smile, showing he was not the only one who enjoyed spreading the morning joy that is _her_.

"Since I was enjoying my dream, I didn't like the idea of being pulled out of it, thanks a bunch," She snarled, holding the container to her lips and taking a small sip. "If I gone into full snippy mode, I would have woken him up this morning."

"He was still asleep when you left?" Fin asked, his eyes watching out for the media, hoping they would not recognize Maria's face from the papers. Didn't help that her face was plastered all over New York after the shooting, including a scene of the shooting and a small shot of John's from his file. _Vultures._

"He did fall asleep for an hour or so, however with the weird shit going through his mind, he was up the majority of the night." She kept her voice low, careful for anyone who might overhear, "When you got me up, he was out cold on his back. Didn't even bother to get him up this morning, he needs that sleep right now."

"Least he can get, instead of worrying all night," Cragen sighed as he opened the door to the court room and held it open, "Might as well get seated and get this over with. Elliot's due along in a little while."

Slipping into the seats on one side, Lilly and Scotty sat near the end of the long bench and took their own time to look the place over. The dark wooden walls, benches and Judge's seat gave off a vibe that this was going to be interesting enough as it is. Looking down the bench where they sat, Valens saw that they all had the same expression - all had overcharged nerves. Maria was chewing on the inside of her bottom lip and gripping Fin's hand tightly, who was also fiddling with the zipper of his jacket with his free hand. Cragen looked around the room while he fiddled with his fingers, as if he was waiting for the sky to fall.

"I know those people over there."

Rush leaned forward to look at who had spoken, only to see Maria looking behind them and eyes glued on a small group of people on the other side of the room. "Who are they, Maria?"

"The man near the aisle is John's younger brother, Bernie and the man next to him is Meldrick Lewis, who was a Homicide detective from Baltimore." Keeping her voice low to not cause attention, "Meldrick and the woman next to him, Kay Howard, saw John and I kiss right before I had left Baltimore."

"They know about you two?"

"I think we let off a vibe to them, due to the lip locking session we had before I got on the train," her face turned a light shade of red in embarrassment and nearly broke Fin's fingers when Meldrick's eyes glanced at her, a small smile on his face. "Shit, he recognizes me, least I think he does. It's been a number of years since I have seen these people." Facing forward in her seat, she released Fin's hand and gave him apologetic look.

"Don't let that thought deter you, Ms. Frank," Jackson leaned back in his seat, sorting through his papers for the small time he had before it started. "Just focus on what's coming up now and move on from there."

"Got it."

----------------

Back at the house, Thomas and John were both deeply focusing on the game at hand, or at least, who was going to give up first. Thomas's king was surrounded by John's black pieces and his deep sighing signaled he was doomed. "I'm doomed here, aren't I?"

"You're deep in doomsville, my friend," John snickered as he claimed the king, holding it up the taunt him. "What do you think is happening now?"

"Right now, probably already started the trial and Maria's nervous as Hell."

--------------

"At the time he had requested your services, did you know that it was a cop who was the target?" Jackson questioned Dukens, who had a very relaxed look on his face as he was questioned.

"When he first called me, no I didn't. Until he showed me a picture of who the target was, then I knew."

"And this weapon here," he picked up the rifle, "is what you used in the day of the shooting?"

"Yes, it is," Dukens frowned as he began to tense up, he knew he was in trouble.

"These bullets here," Jackson motioned to the container that held the Black Talons, "are what you used that day?"

Dukens nostrils flared as he answered with a strained "yes". From the expression on his face, it showed he was becoming extremely uncomfortable with what was coming up.

"So, you planned the murder of Mr. Munch and critically wounded another detective that same day?"

By this time, Dukens sighed heavily and glared at Jackson, the look of refusing to answer that question. His dark pupils scanned the DA before him before glancing into the crowd and recognizing her, a cruel smirk twisted his face. Maria shifted nervously and almost jumped when Rush reached over, taking a hold of her fingers.

"Answer the question, Mr. Dukens." The judge ordered, her firm tone making him look up at her.

"Yes, I planned it and he told me where, when and who to shoot." Dukens lawyer, Oliver Gates, involuntarily slap his hand over his face at what he said. By saying anything else besides 'yes', he was digging his own grave.

Jackson seemed to have caught what he had said and chuckled to himself. "Ah, I see now. So Warren Micheals had told you where, when and who to shoot. Nothing else, your honor."

Standing slowly, Gates looked at Dukens as he started his own questions. "You a tax paying citizen?"

"Yes, sir."

"You follow what people tell you?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, you were just follow directions of what people tell you, as long as money is involved, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Jackson, objecting to this, stood and looked at the judge, "I don't understand, your honor. Is there a question pertaining to the case?"

"I agree, Jackson. Is there a question involved in this?"

Giving a slick smile to the judge, Gates held up a hand, "No more, your honor."

Nodding at his answer, the judge made a hand motion for Dukens to leave the stand and checked her papers. "At this time, DA Jackson had made a suggestion for Ms. Maria Frank, the detective who lived, to make a small statement. Can you come sit over here, please?" She offered a small smile to her, as Maria carefully stood, weaseled through a few legs and sat down at the stand. "You may start when you're ready, okay?"

Taking a deep sigh, she shifted where she was sitting and tried to become more comfortable in that uncomfortable seat. "Since it happened, it has been difficult from the five surgeries in a week to repair to all the damaged tissue in and around my lungs to physical therapy. The bullet hit me in the back, went through my left lung, bounced off a rib bone and lodged in a rib bone near my right lung. I had limited use of my left shoulder and been dealing with slight breathing difficulties from scarring of my left lung, becoming more susceptible to Bronchitis and chest colds." Her eyes moved over the people in the seats and they rested on the Baltimore detectives, seeing they recognized her. "I had to be in a drug-induced coma to assist in my breathing and to be able to deal with the surgeries. When they brought me out of it, one of my colleagues told me what had happened and...it destroyed me."

Pausing a moment to swallow the emotion that was rising in her throat, Maria looked over at the jury, "Doctors told me I was lucky, but I didn't believe them. I've been dealing with this guilt for the past two years. Detective Munch was a close friend of mine, an extremely bright man and cared deeply for his job. What had happened that day was terrible and tragic, there is no possible way I can get over what had happened and why it happened. Due to my guilt and medical conditions, I had to retire from SVU and it just feels like I'm drowning in my grief and guilt. But, there's no real way to describe what I'm feeling right now," she down at her wrists, outlining the scars with her fingers, "There is just no real way."

Gates, having a question pop in his mind, couldn't help but stand and held his hand up to the judge. "Mind if I ask a question, your honor?"

Sighing at his persistance, she looked down where Maria was sitting and thought hard about what his pushiness. "Ms. Frank, do you mind if he asks a question?"

Maria shook her head, lifting her head to look at the judge. "No, ma'am, I don't mind at all."

Seeing his chance, Oliver Gates used his long stride to stand right in front of her, as if trying to use his presence as a way to show her who was boss. Watching him over her glasses, the blank look on her face told him she wasn't scared of him. "Ms. Frank, have you ever killed anyone while on the job or following what your boss or bosses have said?"

Chuckling, Maria took a deep breath and readied herself and knew fully of what to say. "Mr. Gates, I have shot and killed several people in my life, yes, but all of them were criminals who were going to take a life at that second if I had not pulled my trigger. It was and is the area of the job and the criminals involved, okay? I don't enjoy firing and killing criminals but it's something I was _taught_ to do at the academy. I would rather see a bad person dead instead of a seeing an innocent child, man or woman dead at my feet. I didn't do it for the money or the thrill, I did it to bring justice to those who need justice for a crime that happened to them or their families. I have seen every possible _evil_ thing a human can do to another human and it makes me so sick to my stomach, I don't eat for days. But to kill one of perps right when he's about to take another life? I find no comfort in that, but it's what I had to do to _save_ that other life."

Gates and everyone else in the courtroom sat there and allowed her words to sink in before the judge allowed her to leave the stand. Leaning down to Fin in his seat, she whispered in his ear, leaving the courtroom once finished. Rush and Valens watched as she slipped through the door in silence, concern in their faces and mixed emotions of what she had said. Looking at Fin, Rush could see he was contemplating to following her and be with her, but she took that in her hands.

Slipping out of the room as quietly as Maria had, Rush looked both ways to find her sitting on the floor, forehead leaning against her knees and both hands in balled fists. Joining her on the floor, Rush placed a hand on her back and felt her back muscles tense up as she struggled to hold in her emotions. "Maria?"

"Sure in Hell never thought I'd find myself doing this insanity all over again," her muffled voice that seemed to come from the beyond, "having to face that suck up of a lawyer again is enough to make me look at my own rapist again to wipe that memory out."

"Bad days with that guy, huh?"

"You bet. Always trying to pull lame excuses for why someone did this or someone did that," she lifted her head and ran a hand through her dark strands, "I just get sick and tired of it all. I get sick of people asking why I went into Special Victims and tired of explaining every little detail to get them off my back."

"How long were you in Special Victims, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tilting her head to one side, Maria did the calculation in her head, "Around twenty or so years, which is way over the normal amount to do it. I started in uniform for my first five years and moved up to Victims until I retired. I'm close to forty-six now, and I retired two years before that," she sighed, moving her hand to over her eyes, "that's a shit load of victims to work with, I tell you."

"You don't want to know what's happening in there?"

"Nope, and I wish to not know until they have their decision on the slimy bastard. I'm just gonna sit here on the cold floor, until my behind goes numb and I start craving three shots of tequila and a vodka martini to go with it," she moved her legs so they were crossed under her, making a point she was not moving for a while.

-------------------------

Meanwhile, John was making a point he was not moving from his sitting spot, in front of the window, for a while. Not until he sees her car and she comes through that door. Thomas, sitting at the dining room table, couldn't help but watch him as his head turned from side to side, like a dog watching cars go by. "You sure you don't want to play cards?"

"I'm sure," he replied as his eyes followed one car that looked like her, only to be disappointed once it passed the house, "it's been close to three hours already. How hard does it have to be to convict a man with so much evidence?"

"Easy, Munch, with that much evidence it's gonna take a while. Not to mention Maria was asked to say something on the stand..." Thomas paused as he continued to shuffle the cards, having been doing in several times already to give his hands something to do.

"I just hope Oliver doesn't slaughter her when she says what she has to say or I'm gonna have to hurt him," he muttered, thinking Thomas had not heard it, "no one hurts my baby like that - emotionally, mentally and physically. They do, they're dead."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Thomas spoke out loud, chuckling when John lifted a hand to wave his words off.

-------------

"C'mon, they're gonna say the verdict," Fin held is hand out to a frowning Maria, Rush standing next to him the moment he walked out of the room, "you don't want to miss this, believe me."

Sighing, she reached out and, with his help, hoisted herself up to her feet. "It's all for John and that's what I keep telling myself, trying to keep my old self going through this." Taking a deep breath, she peeked through the small window to see the jury returning to their seats before starting their verdict, "It's all for him."

"Don't forget it's for you as well, Frank." Meldrick Lewis started, standing behind the three as she contemplated going back in. Hands in his pockets, he gave a small nod in her direction, acknowledging her for the first since the last time they met. "I'm very sorry for what had happened to the Munchkin, to be honest. I suspecting something between you two while you were in Balto, but to do what you did at the train station really..." He paused to give a nervous chuckle at what he trying to say, being in front on two other people he didn't know.

Nodding in understanding, Maria reached out and grasped his shoulder in comfort, "It's alright, Lewis, we tried hard to keep it a secret and we did good for as long as we could." She gave him a small smile as she walked back into the room, being followed by the people who stood behind her and everyone else harmed in this tragic case. Slipping quietly into the bench, she leaned forward to see that Elliot had managed to sneak in without notice, smiling when he gave a small wink to her.

"On the count of attempted murder of a police detective, what is your verdict?"

One jury stood up, the small slip of paper in his hands, "We find the defendent guilty."

"And on the count of the murder of a police detective?"

"Guilty, your honor."

"Jail sentencing will be set next week and the jury is released with the thanks of court."

With endless joy, Maria wrapped her arms around Fin's neck and squeezed, knocking the wind out of him. Rush and Valens looked at each other and sighed in unison as Cragen stood and clapped them both on the shoulder. "Never could have been able to really finish this without your help this time," Cragen grinned at them both as the court erupted in a mix of cheers and a few tears.

Leaving the courtroom to avoid the crowd, Cragen contemplated taking them all out the back way due to the flock of media wanted to find them and drown them in questions. As Don filled them in on how to leave the court house without a problem, Elliot noted that there was a small group standing behind them, all looking like cops of a sort. "They're Baltimore detectives and John's former colleagues. The one behind them is John's younger brother," Maria whispered as she waved them closer.

"This would be great news to tell the others when we go back," Kay Howard said as she pulled Maria into a tight hug, the small woman having more strength then realized. "I'm so sorry for what happened, Maria, and I wish we didn't have to see each other during type of situation."

Smiling at her kind words, she moved her eyes to look at Bernie, who was trying his best to keep his emotions in check. "How you doing, Bernie?"

"With this done and over with, I'm feeling better to be truthful," he sighed, "wish I could have seen him one last time though. Last time I talked to him, he was too tired to even say one word." Lowering his eyes, Bernie turned and slowly walked away, shoving his hands into his own pockets. Giving silent good byes, the Baltimore cops left, catching up with Bernie and disappeared into the crowds.

"Is it bad to think, I almost wanted to tell them that...he's okay," Maria whispered as she faced them again, "I wanted to tell them, but it's not my place to do that. I'll leave that up to the marshals, if they wish for him to contact anyone."

"I bet they will," Olivia reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "so, what shall we do? Go to your place or do you want to go alone for a while?"

"Right now, I just want to go home and spend some time with him," Maria kept her voice low, in case anyone overheard them, "maybe I'll be lucky enough to have Thomas leave a little so we can just talk or something." Giving a relaxed shrug, she slipped out a secret back way, giving small waves to them as she headed out.

Fin, keeping his eyes out for the known vultures, zipped up his jacket and released a long held breath, "That man is going to squeeze the life out of her when he hears this." He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as they went their own ways.

**I must say, at this small moment, I did not respect this much attention as I have progressed this along. It's about quarter to four in the morning, stuck listening to my playlist with headphones and just happy to say I love seeing folks favorite this, be added to FF alert and just leaving me reviews (one is particular I'd love to squeeze tight! You know who you are!). There is one song I have been listening to over and over again that really seems to fit this couple I've been playing with for a while. "Broken" by Amy Lee and Seether really seems to fit these two. **


	22. Chapter 22

**Didn't plan on this happening until later, but I did it anyway because it just slipped in. Sooo, adult content.**

Having taken a quick trip to the drug store on the way home, Maria parked her car into the drive way and headed to the house. Holding up her key chain, she counted through her keys to find the house key, having it being hidden among other keys she swore she had no idea to where they went to. _Unbelievable!_ Finding the right key and unlocking the door, she was pulled into a tight hug in a split second. "Hey, what the-"

"You're home!" Came to muffled sounds of John's voice, his face hidden in her neck as Thomas pushed them out of the way of the door so he could close and lock it. Releasing her from his grip, John allowed her to compose herself again before dropping the question on her, "So, what happened?"

Looking at both men, her eyes shifting to see their faces, Maria couldn't help but smile and leap into John's arms, "He's going away for a long time, John, and that's all I can say for now."

"Thank God," John sighed, holding her closer then before and glancing over at Thomas, "What does this mean for me?"

"When I talk it over with the bosses, I'll suggest to have you removed from our system and you can be a free man." He explained simply, "So then, I can move on to my next cases and we can go on with our lives. Simple as that. Frankly, I would suggest moving some place where no one knows you or her, just in case of being recognized. Papers all over New York state and Maryland were informed of the shooting, so states around here are not to be touched."

"That's perfectly fine by me," Maria stated firmly in his arms, "New York is just holding memories that I wish to forget. Somewhere with evenly spaced weather and quiet neighborhoods is all I want right now."

"Same here," John agreed, his hand gently rubbing her back for comfort, "mind if we have some time to ourselves to talk?"

"No problem," He reached for his holster and grabbed one of his weapons, handing to John, "I have to talk with the bosses, go over this case and make a decision of what to do with _both_ of you, since you stated you will take her with if you had to." With a nod, Thomas grabbed his coat to hide his second weapon and headed out the door.

"So," Maria started as she slide her hands to his shoulders and eying him with a sharp look, "do you want to talk first or see the little present I got ya?"

"Present?" His voice rose a notch, eyebrows shooting up as he looked at her over his glasses, "I got a present?"

"Sure did," she leaned in, "reach into my back pocket and _find_ it."

Reaching slowly behind her, John kept his eyes locked on hers as he felt for what she got him, his smile growing bigger. Taking a hold of the small box with his fingers, he pulled it between them and looked down. If John Munch could have tossed one of his man cards and squealed like a little girl, he would have. In his hands was a newly bought box of ultra protection condoms, and two people who were speaking the same thing in different ways. "And, um," John took in a shuddered breath, trying to think correctly, "when is, um, Thomas due back?"

Taking a hold of the front of his shirt, she pulled him closer and her lips hovering over his. "Not a clue, but shall we do this first and talk afterwords? Because if that suggestion works for you, I have no problem getting right to _business_."

"Yeah, I think we...we should just get to that....and I have no prob-" John's sentence was cut off by Maria's soft lips covering his, stopping him from even continuing his sentence. With one hand holding the box and one free enough to fiddle with the buttons of her shirt, John tried to take the lead of where they should go before he tossed her onto the kitchen floor and took her there.

After a few stumbles up the stairs and walking into a corner, Maria navigated him in the right direction of her bedroom. Practically shedding clothes faster then cuffing a perp, John gently laid Maria down on the mattress and started to crawl over her, but a hand on chest stopped him. "I think we should lock the door first, in case Thomas comes back and we're....you know," She gave him a sly smile as he dipped his head and lightly bit her collar bone, standing back up and locked the bedroom door. Before taking another chance to crawl back on top of her, he grabbed for the illusive box and opened it, taking out one package.

Once he felt ready for this, he hovered over her and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly when he claimed her mouth again. "Just to let you know," he started in a quiet voice, "it's been two years since I've done this and I...I may just..."

Placing a hand on the side of his face and running in down to his neck, Maria shushed him gently. "Shh, it's okay, John. If you do reach prematurely, we'll just start again. I'm not going to throw a hissy fit if you do, it just happens and we'll move on." Bracing herself on one elbow, Maria captured his lips under her's for reassurance and a long held promise between them, to never leave each other alone in times of need. "Now, where were we?"

Taking a hold of her hands in his and placing them beside her head, John linked his fingers with hers as he slowly entered her. Letting out a shuddered sigh at finally being able to make love to her, John dipped his head and covered her mouth as she let out a small gasp, tasting the inside of her mouth. Moving down her neck to nip at a sensitive spot below her ear, he carefully started stroking in her and caused Maria to cry out as she arched against him. Releasing her hands from his hold, one of his hands slide down her right side and traveled over the curve of her hip before stopping on the back of her thigh. Snaking his hand under her hip, he lifted her up to allow deeper thrusts and threw them both into frenzy.

Wrapping her arms around his strong back, Maria sought out a sensitive spot between his neck and shoulder and bit down gently. Moaning in his throat, John clenched his eyes shut at fighting the urge to climax too soon. Wrapping an arm under her shoulders, he held her close to himself as he shifted his head to claim her mouth once again as he felt the feeling of an electric pulse travel down his spine.

Digging her short fingernails into his back, Maria clung to what she wanted and who she craved for so long. Pulling away from his mouth for some air, she buried her face into his shoulder and whispered his name next to his ear. "John...I-I love you," her words coming out mixed among sharp intakes of breathes, feeling that neither of them were going to last much longer. Shutting her eyes firmly from the sensations of John moving faster over her, Maria arched her back against him and moaned out his name as he gasped out her name at the same time. Feeling muscles tense up from hitting their climaxes at the same time, John released a exhaled a shuttered breath as Maria moaned out his name before feeling like a boneless mass. With shaky arms keeping himself up from crushing her, John gave her a weak smile when he dipped his head to give her a deep kiss.

"My God, I didn't think I'd...jeez," He softly chuckled as he moved steadily away from her, extracting himself from her. Literally crashing down next to her on his stomach, he ran his fingers through her hair as she turned her head to look at him. "Two years and I still got it," he happily gloated, watching her laugh quietly. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, John felt two years of stress and frustration melt from his body as his mind started to drift off.

Watching him slowly doze off, Maria reached over and ran her fingers over his jaw bone, trying to keep him awake long enough so they both at least talk about what happened that day. "Hey, stay awake for me John boy. We still have to have our little talk, remember?" Nodding as a response, he gradually rolled over onto his back and made an effort to sit up.

Taking a hold of her comforter, he stopped himself when he remembered one thing he had to do. "I gotta get cleaned up first, before getting comfortable," he announced as he started getting out, but a hand on his shoulder stopped. Glancing over at her, he could see a look on her face that told him to stay put and it was a look he had surely missed.

"Stay here and I'll take care of it," Maria assured John as he moved to look at her better, "besides, I have a secret little bathroom right behind that door," she pointed at the wall nearest to her, "and I'll just take a couple of seconds." Getting up and reaching into her drawer, Maria pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a loose shirt, heading off into the bathroom. Grabbing a hand towel and damping it, she sat facing him and gently started to wipe him off. "So, what do you want to know first about the trial?"

"I don't know really - too many things going through my head right now," he gave a small shrug as he watched what she was doing, his eyes feeling heavy. "Maybe...who was there besides the guys?"

Smiling, Maria glanced up at him, watching him move his eyes to look at her. "Your brother was there first off..."

"Bernie?"

"Yeah, for the small moment he said anything to me, he said something along the life of feeling a great weight lifted from his shoulders now that Dukens is going away." With a gentle hand, she moved his left leg to wipe down the inside of his thigh. "I swear he was holding back on his emotions, though," Maria lowered her eyes in sadness of what Bernie had to deal with and how John was unable to even call him and tell him he was just fine.

"And you couldn't tell him, could you?"

"I can't tell a soul you are alive until they decide to let you go or not," Maria sighed as she unfolded and refolded the hand towel, continuing where she had stopped, "I feel that's going to be up to you and Thomas."

Nodding in understanding, he leaned back and rested his head against the headboard, feeling awful for his own brother suffering with the him gone. "Anyone else there that I would know?"

"Yep, um, Meldrick Lewis and Kay Howard were there with him," she looked over her glasses at him and smiled, "looks like they had been doing good since I had left." Tapping the outside of his right leg, he moved it to make it easier for her to clean, "Anyway, throughout the whole, Dukens was looking more and more pissed as it progressed. The more Jackson dropped the evidence on his lap, the more he frowned and he knew he was in trouble. He knew he was going away for a long time and nothing Gates said would have saved his lazy behind."

"Seriously? Everything he said didn't work with saving Dukens sorry behind?"

"Honest, I think he was just wasting time trying to save himself from embarrassment, but I can't read minds," she finished, standing back up and placing items where they belonged; towel in the hamper and used protection into the trash can. Curling up next to him and resting her head against his shoulder, she felt a hand tugging at the loose shirt she was wearing, "And what would you like?"

"I'm gonna be an ass and point out the obvious here but, you're still not comfortable walking around in your gorgeous naked self?" Slipping an arm under her shirt to feel her warm flesh, John slip apart of it away to kiss her shoulder. "You don't need to hide yourself from me, hm? Don't cover up your pretty self especially from me, babe."

Humored by something he had said, Maria pulled away and looked at him, chuckling to herself. "Did you just hear yourself? First you said I'm gorgeous, then you move to say I'm pretty...if you're trying to get to round two, pal, you're failing drastically." She continued to laugh softly when his expression went from slightly confused to morphing into a 'silly me!' look, giving a big grin on his part.

"Okay, you win that round, but I still get a round two right?" Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against her as he ran his hands up from her sides to her shoulders, listening to both of them laugh softly at what had happened earlier and just happy to be this close. Running his hands down her shoulders, he took a hold of bottom of her shirt and felt for the newest scar on her chest. Tracing it with his fingers over the scarred flesh, John pulled back to look at her, "I didn't want you to get involved from the start, baby, and I'm so sorry that you had. I...I didn't mean...I'm so sorry."

Wrapping her arms loosely around him, Maria dipped her head to look his face and gave him a soft kiss. "Don't apologize, hun, it's not your fault. You were doing what you thought was right and I thank you for it, I really do. But, please, don't apologize for what had happened because we are still here and you know what," she lifted his chin so he would look at her, "if things didn't happen like they had, someone else would have been harmed."

Giving her a sad smile, John rested his shoulder one hers, sighing and closing his eyes at the comfort she offered. "I love you, Maria, and always will." Keeping his arms around her, they nestled down comfortably on the bed. Using one hand to lift and remove her shirt, John gave her a soft smile as she snuggled closer and felt around for the comforter. Laying contently entwined together, a small smile tugged at his lips as a hand moved to caress and softly rub his bare hip, "you know, I just noticed something about us."

"Hm?"

"We only did it once and we're both tired," he paused a moment to gather the thoughts, "normally, and I don't mean to gloat, but we can go at it, at least, twice before getting this tired. Has it really been that long for us?"

The hand on his hip stopped for a brief moment before starting up again, moving up his side to his back. Laughing at his randomness and one tracked mind, Maria lifted her head to look at him, "Considering it's been a tiring day from the get-go, I wouldn't consider the thought that we're 'out of shape' in a way." Laying her head back down, she shifted closer to him to whisper in his ear. "Besides, once all this is completely over and you're no longer being baby sat, we can do it where ever we want, when ever we want and if we don't pull a muscle or two in the process."

Releasing a low growl at what she said, John placed lazy kisses along her shoulder, "With those thoughts in my head, I'm not sleeping now."

"So be it, but don't leave or move. Move an inch and I'm going to pinch you where you don't like being pinched." She mumbled in a sleep like daze, moving her hand back to the curve of his hip.

"Duly noted in the minutes."

-------------------

"At this point, we're going to have to leave in the next day or so," Lilly said to Cragen, after he took her and Valens out for a quick coffee run, "hope it sorted out soon with Witness Protection and get this case closed. Going to hate leave this state, but we do have other cases to move on to once this is done."

"Take this coffee as part of my thanks for your help, both of you," Cragen remarked as he took a small sip from his cup, "it didn't really show, but all of us are truly grateful for putting him in prison-we all show it differently but it means the same." He nodded in the direction of his former team, who were huddled together a few feet from them. All three had different expressions on their faces, but it didn't raise any alarms to Valens or Rush. "When they're ready to show their thanks, it'll involve drinks for sure."

"And that's the only proper way for us to celebrate," Valens smiled, holding his cup up to the separate three in a silent toast, watching them follow, "Wonder how John took the news."

"I bet he squeezed the life out of her in joy and wouldn't be surprised if they spent some quality time together," Fin spoke up from where he stood, "and I hopin' he's going to consider doing what I know what he wants to do soon."

"What do you mean?" Elliot questioned as all heads turned towards Fin.

Smiling behind his cup of coffee, Fin's dark eyes scanned over them as he lowered his voice, "I know he wants to be with her and we had spoken about that in between free times when she wasn't around. Two days before it happened, he picked _it_ up from the shop and hide _it_ among his belongings, wanting to show _it_ to her a few days later. He never got that chance and I know he's itching to do _it_."

"You mean...he wants to..." Olivia words hung in the air at what Fin had hinted, watching him nod and smiles erupt on all their tired faces. "Damn, who knew he still had the guts to do that with his record." She commented between trying to control her smiling jitters.

"Well, I hope he does it before we leave!" Rush smiled as they started heading down the sidewalk, weaving around people as they neared the station house.

"He'd better or I'm gonna kick his scrawny ass," Fin smirked, holding the door open to the building, "then, she'll have a reason to kick my ass for sure!"

-------------------

In the midst of reading the sports section of yesterday's paper, Thomas looked over it at the sound of hearing someone coming down the stairs. Smirking at the sight of John looking more relaxed then he had ever seen him, considering he was smiling to himself. "Talk go well?"

"Yep, talk went very well," John smiled to himself as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and sat down to join Thomas, slipping the front page of the paper from his hands.

Continuing to watch him over the top of the paper, Thomas's eyes flickered to look above him before looking at John, "And, where would your lady friend be?"

"Resting right now...she had a busy day, you know?" He didn't look over at Thomas, considering he could sense the look he was giving him, "and that's it, Thomas, just resting under the covers. Why?"

"You don't need to be shy about it, John, I know you both were...," He nodded to the ceiling, "you get my drift. You have never looked so relaxed in the two years I have known you and that's saying a lot. And now I'm about to ask you something that you might hate me for but, are you going to do _it_?"

Shifting his dark eyes from side to side, he got the full idea of what he was really going at now. Closing his paper and folding his hands together, he turned his head slowly to look at the smiling Marshal beside him. "Okay, I get what you're going at here, Tom boy, and I don't know when or how. Frankly...I'm not feeling all that great about what she'll say."

"What to be nervous about?" He shrugged his broad shoulders, "From how I have watched you both over the last month, you two keep acting like an old married couple. Why keep making excuses, Munch?"

For the first time, John looked at Thomas as if he was a friend instead of his watchman. The stern man who had shuffled him from a hospital to a small little 'shack' for a few weeks before shoving him into an suitable place to live, was looking at him with a show of concern. Exhaling a defeated breath, John leaned back on the couch and slowly worked how to word what he wanted to say. "I'm...it's not easy to admit, but I'm scared...of...of what will happen if she...," he paused when flashes of passed wives skipped through his mind and he shook his head.

"She won't say no," Thomas finished what he was trying to say, "and stop running away from it. As you had told me when those two Philly cops brought you back here, she's all you have left and same for her. When I had been ordered to watch you in Jersey hospital, you said her name in your sleep every night and I knew she was and is important to you the first night. I know your history with trophy wives and what headaches they caused you, but let this one get away from you. I don't even see her leaving you to be honest. Your history with her runs deeper then my relationship with my ex and you both express it better then any couple in Protection."

Taking in what Thomas had said, John stood and walked slowly over to a glass cupboard. Opening a drawer and shuffling around the contents, he pulled out the small box and tore open the small white tab that kept it closed. Holding the velvet box in the palm of his hand, he darned to not look at in fear it would jinx it. "I can't do it now, Tom. I need the right time to ask her or I'll have to do it when it's just us alone."

"What ever you need to do it right, John." He patted him on the shoulder in the best way he could. "How much does she mean to you? Would you kill for her? Take a bullet?"

Running his thumb over the top of the box, he placed back in the box and closed the lid. Lowering his voice to a calm level, he started showing a side of himself Thomas had never seen. "I already did the bullet option, but if I had to kill for her, to protect her, I would. I help her fight her nightmares and she does the same for me, we wake each other out of those terrors and just...sit there in silence. We know the danger we had to deal with every day and we had our off days when we would just snap at each other," He paused to take a deep breath, their verbal fights not their proudest moments. "But we'd work it out, move on, and do what we do best to make up for the fights," He blushed a little at what he had said, knowing Thomas had in mind what he meant.

"That's usually how couples make up," He agreed, "wish my ex and I had and not be in the situation we are in now."

"That's one of her greatest fears with us being together. She had never been in a serious relationship and she had mentioned to me that she's scared of us breaking apart." John's tone stayed at a relaxed level, as if he didn't mind talking about this to a man who's job was the protect him. "She...she gives off an impression of being laid back about practically everything, but she does show a different side of herself with me and only me. Maria makes me feel like a different man and I love everything about her - from her way of drinking out of the milk straight from the jug to taking over the bed at night. She feels like the right person for me and I don't know how to really explain it."

"I understand what you're saying - no need to explain, John." Thomas assured him with a smile, "I'm very sure she's the right person for you, considering how she cares for and about you." Turning around to head over to the dining table, Thomas picked up the John's file and stared at it upon opening it. "Promise me one thing?"

"Hm?"

"And you may not need this advice, but I'm going to say it anyway - treat her well and don't let her go. From your history, she's the only keeper of the bunch and respects you for you, John. Don't let her go."

Hearing movement from above, John's eyes moved to look at the ceiling and he let out a strained sigh at what Thomas had said. Sucking up the nerves he had, John headed back up the stairs and to the bedroom.


	23. Chapter 23

Watching from the doorway, a smile crossed his lips as he watched her drag on what clothes she had, "Hey, beautiful."

Snapping her head in his direction, Maria's smile grew as he sat down next to her, "Hey, handsome." Finishing getting dressed to look at least decent, the feeling of a hand on her knee told her something was bothering him. "What's the matter, John? You look bothered," tilted her head to look at him better, his dark eyes told her something he was struggling to say. "Tell me what's wrong."

Inhaling a deep breath, he let it out slow as he found his words, "How would you feel if you and I made our relationship permanent?" He took a hold her hand as he said this, watching her expression change from concerned to looking completely stunned by what he had said. Running her free hand through her dark hair, Maria felt her emotions rock from side to side like a wayward boat on the rough seas. Looking down at where their hands were, she watched his long fingers gently rub along her own fingers as she thought hard about what he had asked.

After several long minutes of hard thinking, Maria lifted her head and looked at his anxious face, her head tilted a little to one side. "I have my decision, but you have to ask me properly first, before I say it. But," she held one finger showing she was not finished, "don't do the knee thing. Just stay where you are."

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves for the second time, John took both of her hands in his and kept his eyes locked on hers. "Maria, would you marry me?"

Maria's face morphed from a strained straight face to the biggest smile she ever had. Throwing her arms around his neck, she let out a tearful "yes!" as she knocked the wind out of him. More specifically, knocking them both to the floor and accidentally elbowing John in the ribs once they both hit the carpet. Stunned for a moment, John returned the hug with a smile he had not shown since his last marriage broke up.

Moving his hands to navigate her face to be in front of his, he raised his head and drew her into a deep kiss. Deepening the kiss, Maria braced herself up in her hands and her knees as John ran his fingers through her hair, sliding them down her back. Sighing at his contact, she allowed him entrance into her mouth and felt his long arms wrap around her, pulling her closer to himself.

Feeling the need for air, they pulled apart with enough space between them that allowed their noses to barely touch. Tucking her dark strands behind her ears, John pressed his lips to the bridge of her nose, "So," Maria started as she let out a shuddered sigh, "how long have you been holding this back?"

"Two long, painful years," he said softly, "I had wanted so badly, but then it happened and I couldn't...deal with the thought of not being with you." Running a thumb under her left eye, John lifted his head again to place a tender kiss under her right eye, feeling her lean into his touches. "I love you and I can't let you go again," he paused, watching her lift her eyes to look in his eyes, "I can't loose you for the third time."

Leaning into his hand, Maria closed her eyes and felt the tears trying to break through. Feeling his arms wrap around her, John sat up and shifted them both so she sat on his legs, his knees bent to allow her own legs to slip under one and to lean against him. "And that box that had been in the basement...?" Resting her head against his shoulder, she took a gentle hold of his hand and fiddled with his long fingers.

"That would be the ring and I had picked it up right before it happened, baby." He wrapped his arms around her protectively, "I wanted you to be with for so long and I couldn't wait any longer, so I picked it up. When I saw it, it reminded me of you in so many ways; your quarks, the love you show and how you like simple things."

"Where did you put the box?"

"It's down stairs," tilting her head to look at him, "I can go get it and show you what I got for you?"

"Not yet," she whispered as she caught his lips under a gentle kiss and pulled him closer with her hand on the back of his neck. Feeling an ache to feel him against her once again, Maria wrapped her arms completely around him and smiled to herself when he gave to what she was pushing for, laying her down flat on the carpeted floor. Breaking apart for air, she played with the buttons of his shirt, a seductive look creeped over her features. "After this, then you can get the box."

Falling for her smile, John eyed the door before bating it closed with his hand. "Thomas doesn't need to hear any of this," he explained, "again." Laughing softly together, Maria wrapped her arms around him and laughed harder when he rolled them over. Pinned under her, he made a silent suggestion by pointing to the bedside table with his eyes and gave a wicked smile when she raised one dark eyebrow in understanding.

------------------------

"Case closed and that's that," Valens announced as he tossed the file on Cragen's desk, "Also talked to our captain and he said we have to return tomorrow morning."

Taking in the news, Cragen stood and offered a hand out to him. "It was wonderful to have you here and more then grateful that it answered many unanswered questions. I'm hoping that you might have time to stop by at Maria's for a possible dinner? She had offered her place for food in case it was needed, after you two came, and I'm sure she'll be more then willing to offer up dinner."

"She had? I didn't know and positive that Rush didn't either..." Valens thought out loud to himself as he released Cragen's hand. "I'll asked Rush about it and see when we have free time for an offered meal."

"And once I get this file filed, I'll call up Maria and ask when to come over," He added as he sat down, "Since we were able to fit all of us that house last time, I'm sure we can do it again." He paused to contemplate what he had done with that file in the first place. "Actually, on the other hand, I'll call and get it over with." Waving Valens off, Cragen picked up the phone and dialed, having her number memorized by now.

It wasn't Maria who had picked up, but a Marshal who sounded anxious about something. "Cragen, I had a bad feeling that would have been you."

"You sound frazzled, Tom. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just thought it was the Marshals calling about their decision on John," Thomas exhaled a breath, walking around the kitchen, "All I know, they are upstairs right now, at least John went back up twenty minutes ago. Need to speak to one of them?"

"I need to speak to Maria about dinner, if possible, for tonight."

Taking the stairs to where the bedroom was, Thomas didn't bother to wait as he knocked on the door and knew what he must have been interrupting. "Maria?"

Letting out a frustrated breath and pressing her face into John's neck, Maria spoke out a threatening "what?", as John groaned with annoyance with the interruption.

Trudging on a forbidden path now, Thomas had no choice but to speak up now, "Don Cragen is on the phone and he'd like to talk to you for a minute."

Looking at each other, Maria pulled herself up and off John, grabbing a blanket to cover herself with and tossed his shirt to him. "Just cover up what needs to be," she whispered to him as he sat up and covered his lap. Opening the door a crack, Maria stuck her head out and gave a threatening smile to the man, "This had better be important or I'll make you sterile, mister."

Thomas held the phone out to her with the threat sinking in. "I'm hoping it's important myself," he stepped back, wanting to avoid her reflexes, which he had heard were quick.

"What's up, Cap?"

"House open for dinner tonight? Rush and Valens are leaving tomorrow and hoping that you're place is still open for an invitation for food."

Giving a sideways glance at the nervous man before moving her eyes at the patient man sitting on her bedroom floor, she lowered the phone to her shoulder for thoughts. "Who, by a show of hands, would like to have all of them for dinner tonight? And by all, I mean _all_." Both raised a hand in agreement and she had her answer. "Come over around six or so? Having not done any real shopping for a while, want take out pizza or Chinese?"

"What about both?"

"Both can work too," Maria agreed as she smiled into the phone, while Thomas leaned to one side and gave a small wave to John. Feeling his own embarrassment rising, John gave a small wave back. "See you and everyone else tonight then, sir."

Reaching a hand out to take the phone, Thomas dared to not step closer to her. "I'm guessing it wasn't important, right?"

"More or less, but to save yourself, you are going to pitching in some dollars with the take out as a trade." She smiled as she shut the door and turned her attention to the grinning man before her. "Now, where were we?"

"I think I was loosing my mind from just looking at you," he answered as she kneeled down in front of him and her fingers toyed with the shirt on his lap. "I think I was also on cloud nine until the airplane came through and destroyed that fantasy I was having."

"The Thomas Airline should be done coming through your thoughts," Placing her hand on his chest, Maria gently pushed him onto his back. Using his hands to push the blanket away from her body, he lifted his head to nibble on her neck. "You gonna tell me what you were thinking?"

Smiling at the request, he stop his face from blushing when one of them flashed through his mind. "I bet I can show you."

---------------------

Later that night...

"Pizza and Chinese? I hope you have enough Heart burn tablets for all of us," Elliot muttered as he helped himself to both as they took some seats in the living room. Considering how controlling Maria was with sitting at the table, she allowed them to take all comfortable places on the couch and chairs. "Either that or you're going to test how well we do under pressure."

"I've been testing every person every time I order this type of food," Maria smiled as she sat on the floor and crossing her legs, "I decided to hang that part of my life in the closet, until I want to bring it out again." She gave a wicked smile to Elliot as she picked up her egg roll, "But not going to do it now - it's been that kind of busy day to play with your minds."

Olivia leaned on her knees with a huge smile on her face, "And the ring on your finger?" All heads turned over to see if there really was a ring there and, much to the blushing between Maria and John, there it was. The small diamond gleamed in the light from the lamp and the silver band matched the simpleness that was her. "When did he...?" Liv kept it in the air with the goofy smile on her face while Maria turned beet red.

"Well...um...this afternoon," She replied as she twirled the ring on her finger, "and I bet you can see what my answer was." Looking up to see John preparing to join her on the carpeted floor, she held onto his plate until he was settled. "We thought it out and decided to wait until we find another place to live where we won't be recognized."

Rush and Valens, who had taken seat on the couch next to Olivia, look at each other as if knowing that was going to happen. "Do you know where you're going to move to yet?" Lily asked.

Maria shook her head, "not yet, but we're working on it. We do know that we'd want to live somewhere quiet and away from the city life." She stopped to take a bite from her cheese pizza and chewed slowly as her mind went off into deep thinking. After a few moments of staring off into nothing, Maria shook her head again, "Nope, no idea."

Chuckling at her attempt to think while eating, _and after our activities,_ John decided to take the wheel. "We are mostly thinking out near the West and _away_ from Tornado Alley. I mean, I know they fascinate her to no end, but I don't want to be in the path of them." Maria shot him a look. "We're just going to keep talking about what places until we agree on something that makes us feel comfortable."

Cragen held up his hand, "What ever you two decide to do, I'm sure we'll wish you luck and congratulations!" He held up his mug to a small toast and Maria's face went red again. "I can see you're not used to the idea, Mar, but let it sink in for a while. I promise, everything's going to be just fine."

Giving a small smile and nodding her head, Maria reached over and grasped John's hand...hard. "Still waiting for it to sink in completely, considering I've been a Frank for forty-some years, I've been playing his last name through my head as in trying to get used to that title. It...it's mostly my nerves that are shot right now, but I do not regret agreeing to be with John." Feeling her hand being squeezed back, Maria looked over to see he was trying to keep himself composed.

"Hey, just be sure to give out your new address to where ever you go!" Fin grinned through his dinner of Chinese, "And answer me this question; where is my fortune cookie?" Maria's face broke out into a smile at Fin's humor to break her nerves. "See! There's that smile I know," He nodded his head into John's direction to get his attention, "Just promise me one thing, man. As a friend to another friend, treat that girl right and don't let her go. She's a special find that only comes once every blue moon."


	24. Chapter 24

The next morning came with not much excited, just really sore muscles and very little energy to move. Earlier that morning, Thomas had taken off to take of business at the office and left behind his extra weapon on the nightstand while the two slept. Moving to stretch out her stiff arms, Maria accidentally popped John in the face with her arm and causing him cry out from being shocked out of his sleep. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, John," she sat up unsteadily and placed her hand on the spot where she hit him. "You all right?"

"The first bad sign of this soon to be marriage - I'm already getting a beating and it's not even seven in the morning yet." He shot back groggily, knowing she knew he was joking. Earning a small bat to the head as he started laughing, John looked at her and said one word, "ouch."

"I did not mean to do that," She grinned as she sooth a hand over the slight red mark, "what a way to start the morning." Kissing where she hit, Maria laid back down on the pillow and pulled the comforter more over her bare chest to keep warm. John turned his head to look out the window at early risers driving by. "I hope I didn't wake you from anything interesting."

"Hm?" He turned his head back around, his dark eyebrows raised, "Oh, nothing that was more interesting then you." Moving to lay on his stomach, he draped his arm over her chest and gently caressed her cheek. "No dream I have can't compare itself to you and, after yesterday, I don't think I'll be able to move for a while." John wiggled his eyebrows and had to force himself to not burst out laughing at the look Maria gave, the look that gave a silly sexy expression.

"Glad I could be of service," she said as she closed her eyes and settled closer to him, "and you're welcome."

Watching as she steadily fell asleep against him, John's eyes moved to look at the ring he gave her yesterday and his heart gave a happy leap in his chest. "Maria?"

"Hm?"

"I love you," her eyes slowly opened to look at him as he took a hold her hand and linked their fingers. "I love you so much and I can never let you go." Bracing up on one elbow, John pressed his lips to hers to seal it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Maria pulled him closer and moaned in her throat when she felt _something_ twitch against her hip.

"And I thought you were not able to move, you liar," Maria grinned as he moved to her neck. "God knows, I'm still exhausted _and_ sore from last night - hence I don't think I'm capable of doing a round four."

John chuckled in his throat as he nipped below her ear. "Actually, this is a new day, so this would be the new round for us." Pulling away and tucking a dark strand of hair behind her ear, he observed her carefully as she leaned into his hand and closed her eyes. Seeing she was really wanting to rest instead, John lowered himself down and rested his cheek on her chest.

"John?"

He wrapped an arm firmly around her and rubbed his thumb over her fingers. "Yeah?"

"Sorry about not wanting to do anything right now," She shifted her head to look at him and used her free hand to run her fingers through his hair. "I just want to rest for a while, but we can do it later if you want."

Lifting himself up and pressing a kiss on her jaw, John laid himself back down close to her ear where he could softly talk to her. "When ever you want to do our favorite activity, we will, but I would _love_ to do it in the living and dining room."

"Oh, boy," Maria chuckled nervously as her grip became tighter around him, "We are _sooo_ going to have to wait for no one to be in the house so we can have our_ fun_."

--------------

Instead of heading back to Maria's house, Thomas had taken an alternate path to the Station house and ended up discussing several options with Cragen. "They both know that their only option right now is to move somewhere where no one knows who they are and the safest place, that is also close to here, is Maine. I have housed people there for safety and I know several towns that are very quiet and away from the city excitement."

"Do they know about this?" Cragen leaned forward in his seat with his full attention on what he was saying.

"Not yet, but I need your help with something and I'm hoping that this will work with your help."

Cragen contemplated what he had said until he nodded his head. "What do you need?"

-------------

"So, let me get this straight; Thomas needed John to go with him to sort out what they are going to do with him and you're here for what again?" Maria gave Cragen a confused look as she changed Ronnie's cage and placed fresh bedding in. Cragen had taken a seat on the couch while he held Ronnie. As Maria had said - if you're going to hang around, you might as well help around.

"We, as in Thomas and I, want to help you with where you'll be able to live." Cragen watched as her head turned slowly to look at him, a blank look on her face that told him he had to repeat himself. "Thomas wishes to help you find a place to live while he's releasing John from Witness Protection and he has an idea of where you can go."

"Wait," She stopped what she was doing and sat down next to Cragen slowly, "Wait a minute - John's being released from Protection? And Thomas has an idea of where we can live?"

Cragen paused a moment before answering her with a smile, "Yes."

Maria's hand covered her mouth at the astonishment of the news, "Oh, my God...I...you...I can't believe it." Emotions rising and tears threatening to fall, she leaned forward on her elbows as it sank in and her mind started reeling around in circles. "I just...he's...Oh, my God."

Placing Ronnie on his lap, Cragen wrapped his arm around her for support as her emotions came pouring out. "Congratulations, Maria," He whispered as she hide her face in his shoulder, "I wish you two plenty of luck and hope everything works out for both of you."

Taking a few deep breathes to steady herself, Maria smiled through her tears. "Thank you , Don. Thank you so much."

Hearing a door open and close, Maria rushed to the door and threw herself into John's arms. Holding her tightly to him, John looked up to see Cragen standing there with Ronnie in his hands and a smile on his face. "I take it you told her and she's more then excited."

"Oh, beyond," he looked outside the window and saw another car out there with two people in it. "I take it that's Rush and Valens?"

Thomas held the door open and nodded, "Yeah, they wanted to come say good bye so they can get back to Philadelphia." He turned his head from looking outside to seeing the two locking lips and seemed to have forgotten they were there. "And I say we shall go outside and they'll join us in a little while."

Once Thomas and Cragen were out the door, John lightly pushed her against the kitchen counter and almost took the chance to take her there, but her hand on his chest stopped her. "We...we can't do it here and now, John." Maria panted out as he moved to nip at her collar bone and his hands snaked under her shirt and up her back. As he moved to lift her shirt slightly and nipped below her ribs, she fought her rising urge and used her hands to push him back. "Alrighty now, we know what we are going to be doing once they are all gone," she shifted her shirt and made sure he had not unfastened anything while she was at it. With her, he had a bad habit of undoing _anything_ on her to make it easier for him to get to her.

Running his fingers through her hair to straighten it out, John gave her a slick smile that made her cheeks blush. "C'mon," he teased her with a smooth smile that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. "I know you want to say 'thank you' to them for what they have done."

Pulling on her sneakers and a windbreaker, Maria hustled outside to see Rush and Valens in a deep conversation with Thomas. Cragen, who still have Ronnie in his hands, was listening intently to the conversation. Hearing the door shut, he turned his head and waved them over, "There you two are! Figured you needed some time alone so..." He left it hanging in the air and chuckled when their cheeks turned a bright red.

"Um...well...," Maria scratched the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh. "Um...yeah."

Lily Rush smiled as she pulled Maria into a hug to help cover her embarrassment. "It's alright, Frank - or should I say the-soon-to-be Mrs. Munch." At saying that, Lily watched as Maria's face lite up with a smile and pulled in for another hug. "I'm glad that you two are going to be fine and I wish all our cases were like this."

"Me too and thank you so much." Shaking hands with Valens, she turned to see suitcases and bags in the back of the rental car. "I'm guessing that they're going with you and then take the rental back?"

"Yeah, so that leaves you two alone for a while and no going out into public yet." Cragen warned them as he handed Ronnie to Maria, pulled his keys out and started heading for the car. "We still have to be careful until a new home can be found where you are not recognized."

"Like what Tom was telling me on the way back?" John brought up as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her with her back to him. Maria glanced up at him with a questionable look and he gave her a firm squeeze. "I'll explain later."

Once they all left and Maria had locked the door and placed Ronnie back into his clean cage, John slipped his long arms around her and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Running her fingers through his hair, she pulled him closer and groaned in her throat when his hands slipped back under her shirt and ran his fingers up her sides. Gently lowering her to the carpeted living room floor, John let out a small sigh when she ran her hands over his chest and pulled him back down. "What were you talking about earlier?" She whispered as he removed her glasses and placed them next to his on the coffee table.

"Thomas had suggested a small town in Maine for us to live." He quietly replied back between tugging her shirt over her head and placing small kisses on her neck and jaw. "It's away from the big cities and big news, but still close enough to family and friends."

Wrapping her arms around his strong back and sighed against him, "I don't care where we end up - just as long as I'm with you." She smoothed a hand through his hair and gently carassed his cheek when he pressed his face into her neck.

-------------

Rush and Valens stood outside the train station and helped Thomas with unloading the suitcases from the truck. "Honestly, and I have to say this, I'm glad we were the two to come out here and help you guys out." Valens stated, once the truck was empty and he shook hands with Cragen. "Hope you didn't feel protective of us being on your streets."

Cragen waved away his last comment, "Don't worry about it - really. This is probably the first time in two years I have seen that woman smile and grateful you had that certain evidence in your area."

Rush shook hands with both men and shouldered her bag, "I hate saying this, but I do see a tough road up ahead for them both. Considering what they have had to deal with for the longest time, I bet they'll be all right."

"They will," Thomas nodded. "I should be releasing John from my 'leash', but I at least want to help them find a place to live before really moving onto my next case. I shouldn't be doing this, but I want to, you know."

Cragen turned to look at him, trying to think of what small town he was thinking of. "What small town are you thinking of for them?"

"Hanover, Maine. It's a very small town and very quiet, which is one thing they are looking for. I have placed a few protection people there and they have said that they like it. Everyone minds their own business, don't ask to many questions and are very well spaced out from each other." Thomas smiled to himself, unable to hide the emotion he had been hiding for the past week. "I'm just hoping they will like it."

"They will, Tom." Valens returned a smile as they started heading to their train.

-------------

A week later...

Thomas held open a detailed map of Hanover, Maine - the small town he was hoping they would like to live. "It's mostly farm land, but there are stunning views and sutible homes for older couples looking for a quiet place to live."

"I'm not old," John shot back, his eyes watching Thomas over his glasses as he leaned down to look at the map. Maria patted his hand when Thomas started studdering and thinking of a replacement word.

"Ignore what he said, dear, and focus on what he's showing us." She pulled the map closer to herself and observed the careful markings placed on it and showing simple roads and where stores were located. "I'm going to guess it's a small population for this town and looks like the houses have huge spacing between other properties."

"It is," Thomas returned his attention to the map, "It's really nice, great places to live, everyone keeps to themselves and the seasons are amazing up there."

Maria turned her head to John with a huge smile on her face. "Let's try it and see if it works out! Hell, we could make it perminate up there and live away from the big cities. You could build your diagram of Dealey Plaza for all I care." His face turned to look at her with raised eye brows. "I'll help you if you want me to even. We may even have enough space to build the whole damn city, from the look of things." He continued to stare at her - he didn't even blink. "Hey, I can see you itching to build one and don't lie to me."

Taking a deep sigh and exhaling it slowly, John looked back at the map and slowly started to agree. "Okay, let's try it, but I'm getting a dog once we move." He watched her face morph to a blank stare and he couldn't help but laugh.

"We'll talk about that later," She muttered, a smile breaking through her stare.

Thomas looked at them both, watching as their smiles grew with this plan. "Awesome! Now don't go thinking I'm going to dump you like that though - once you feel comfortable and know it's where you want to live, then I'll feel better about this."

John lifted his head and showed his full grin to Thomas. "Sounds good to me," he reached beside him and grasped Maria's hand. "When do we start?"

-End!

**Sweet bread on toast - I'm done! I shall tell ya, the hours of mind numbing, dream land phases I have been going through to finish this didn't make me fail my spring semester finals. I'm glad to say that. I'm thinking this may be my only crossover story, but who knows. If I plan on knocking someone else into injuries (which I seem to be thinking about all the time...), I may or may not. **


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